Love, Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex briefly revisited her days as a freelance wedding calligrapher on Tuesday, December 18, while visiting a nursing home called the Brinsworth House and meeting with its residents.
While the group decorated together, Markle added a bit of a personal touch to the crafting session by flexing her calligraphy muscles once gain. On one paper ornament, the Duchess wrote: “Merry Christmas, Love, Meghan” in her refined penmanship.
The royal also signed the visitors’ book on Tuesday in her impressive cursive handwriting.
Meghan helped decorate this Christmas art work. Her bauble-shaped decoration is in red pic.twitter.com/jeZPx9dyzq
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) December 18, 2018
Markle previously served as an instructor and calligrapher while ramping up her career as an actress. Before landing her breakout role on USA Network’s Suits, the future royal worked at Paper Source to help pay the bills.
“I went to an all-girls Catholic school for six years—during the time when kids actually had handwriting class,” Markle told Esquire in 2013. “I’ve always had a propensity for getting the cursive down pretty well. What it evolved into was my pseudo-waitressing job when I was auditioning. I didn’t wait tables. I did calligraphy for the invitations, for, like, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton’s wedding.”
Along with weddings, Markle also did calligraphy for businesses like Dolce & Gabbana. “I would sit there with a little white tube sock on my hand, so no hand oils got on the card, trying to pay my bills while auditioning,” Markle revealed in the same interview. “It’s super-lucrative. Because there so so few people doing it. What’s funny is I probably still have some calligraphy business cards floating out in the world and I can’t wait for someone to call me in a month or something, and say, ‘Can you please do these for my son’s Bar Mitzvah?’”
Meghan today pic.twitter.com/54h8RDrQSK
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) December 18, 2018
Markle has long been a big fan of handwritten notes, long before she even joined the royal family. “I think handwritten notes are a lost art form,” she told Good Housekeeping in a prior interview. “When I booked my first [TV] pilot, my dad wrote me a letter that I still have. The idea of someone taking the time to put pen to paper is really special.”
Markle still remains estranged from Thomas Markle following the debacle that began with the royal wedding in May. Despite the complicated family dynamics, the Duchess was all smiles as she met with the home’s residents on Tuesday.
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