‘Magic and kind’ Meghan and Harry join online poetry class
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made a surprise guest appearance at a virtual poetry class, with Meghan sharing some of her favourite poetry lines.
Harry and Meghan dropped in on an online gathering of Get Lit – Words Ignite – a California-based arts education non-profit organisation aimed at improving teen literacy through classic and spoken word poetry.
The organisation said on social media that the Sussexes’ appearance made it the “best weekend EVER!”, adding that Harry and Meghan were “magic and kind and interested in poetry!”
It said: “The Duchess even shared some of her favourite poetry lines. We are so grateful for their visit in honour of Black History Month.
“It goes down as most epic experience in Get Lit history!!!”
The couple were pictured sat side by side as they joined the virtual class, with one of the other participants putting her hand over her mouth in shock and others clasping their hands together in delight.
It is understood that Harry and Meghan, in honour of Black History Month in the US, wanted to support an organisation which engages and empowers young people to find and raise their voices.
In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Get Lit’s 2020-2021 anthology of suggested poems features all black authors and poets in its first-ever virtual anthology.
Mason Granger, Get Lit’s manager of public outreach, wrote on Instagram how his favourite moment was Meghan echoing the many sentiments they had talked about in class.
“Soooo Prince Harry and Meghan dropped into my poetry class on Saturday and kicked it with the Get Lit Players for a multitude of minutes,” he said.
“My favourite part of it all was Meghan echoing so many sentiments we’ve talked about in class, about this particular moment in time/history to be a young person and the ripple effect of a single voice.
“The root of them deciding to come is because at some point in their lives, they were moved by a poem.”
He said the Sussexes spent 45 minutes chatting with the teenagers and had taken the time to learn the biographies of the students in the class beforehand.
Mr Granger added: “It was pretty surreal. My kids shared poems, they asked questions, the kids answered and asked questions back, they responded authentically.”
He said the Get Lit Players “10/10 would recommend the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for your next Zoom poetry practice”.
The organisation has yet to say which poem Meghan quoted, but the duchess has previously described poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou as “incredible”.
In 2019, she quoted Angelou during her tour of South Africa when she gave a rousing speech to teenage township girls, saying: “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it, possibly without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Meghan is also a fan of A Note From The Beach, by Matt Haig, which is written from the perspective of the beach telling a sunbather it does not care about their body.
The duchess included the poem as a “personal favourite” verse when she guest edited British Vogue in 2019.
