Meghan Markle has joined the ranks of those throwing their weight behind national paid family leave.
Writing as “an engaged citizen and a parent,” the Duchess of Sussex penned a letter advocating paid parental leave to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Paid family leave is part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. The program would provide paid leave for anyone who needs to take time off to care for children or ailing family members.
The White House estimates that it would cost about $225 billion in taxpayer money over the next 10 years.
The duchess opted for emotional arguments to support the plan, using stories from her past and present to pull on readers’ heartstrings.
Markle said her parents worked hard just to maintain financial stability and that she joined the workforce at age 13, scrimping and saving to make ends meet.
Markle’s background is not as frugal as she made it sound in her letter.
Her father, Tom Markle, won $750,000 in the lottery when Meghan was a child, Business Insider reported in 2018. Though he did eventually lose of the money, he managed to pay for Meghan’s private Catholic school education.
Before Meghan married Prince Harry, her half-brother noted how helpful their father’s lottery money had been in giving her a good start.
“If Meg marries Harry she’ll have won the lottery of life, but dad winning the lottery helped us all,” Tom Jr. said in 2017, according to the Daily Mail. “That money allowed Meg to go to the best schools and get the best training.”
The duchess also failed to mention her successful acting career following her years of expensive private education.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, Markle made $57,500 per episode starring in the television show “Suits” and accrued a net worth of $2.2 million. That was before she married into the British royal family.
Upon giving birth to her second child, Markle noted that she didn’t have to choose between work and family.
“In June, my husband and I welcomed our second child. Like any parents, we were overjoyed,” she wrote. “Like many parents, we were overwhelmed. Like fewer parents, we weren’t confronted with the harsh reality of either spending those first few critical months with our baby or going back to work.”
Markle took the liberty of appointing herself as a representative of the parents who do have to make that choice.
“I’m writing to you on behalf of millions of American families who are using their voices to say that comprehensive paid leave should not be a place to compromise or negotiate,” the duchess said.
She claimed paid family leave is “something we all seem to agree on” and that it puts “families above politics.”
“Paid leave should be a national right, rather than a patchwork option limited to those whose employers have policies in place, or those who live in one of the few states where a leave program exists,” she wrote.