PRINCESS Eugenie was seen reaching out to Meghan Markle as she turned 40 years old and celebrated the milestone by joining forces with her follow royal.
On Wednesday, Meghan marked her milestone birthday by releasing a two-minute long video that saw her calling out to her Hollywood pals as she launched her new initiative 40 x 40.
The mentorship programme is to encourage others to help support women reentering the workforce, with Meghan asking her fellow A-listers to get on board and donate their time.
Adele and fashion designer Stella McCartney are among the stars who have already signed up to the project, with Princess Eugenie confirming she is the first member of the royal family to team up with Meghan.
In a sweet nod to her cousin Prince Harry’s wife, Eugenie posted to her Instagram story to celebrate “dear” Meghan’s birthday and announced she will be donating 40 minutes of her time to the new initiative.
Eugenie, who is said to have always had a close bond with Harry, wrote: “To celebrate dear Meghan’s 40th birthday I’m contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women reentering the workforce.
“In the past two years, tens of millions of women around the world have departed the workforce.”
Urging others to follow suit and get on board too, Eugenie added: “If you can, please join me and commit 40 minutes to community, service or mentorship.”
As part of the project, Meghan has asked 40 activists, athletes, artists and world leaders to participate, with poet Amanda Gorman and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also signing up.
Meghan – who gave birth to daughter Lilibet in June – touches on the initiative in a new video she shared that sees her chatting with Melissa McCarthy from her home in LA.
She had also released a statement on her Archewell website, where she encouraged people to value their time as she reflected on turning 40.
Her statement read: “In reflecting on my 40th birthday and the many things I am grateful for, I’m struck that time is among our most essential gifts.
“Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love, time spent learning, laughing, growing, and the sacred time we have on this earth.
“Amongst the most valuable gifts of time is also time spent in service to others knowing that it can contribute to incredible change.
“To that last point, and with my 40th lap around the sun in mind, it made me wonder: what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need?
“And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?”
She added in the video: “Over two million women in the US and tens of millions around the world have lost their jobs due to Covid.
“I think if we all do it and see all commit to some sort of act of service, we can have some type of ripple effect.”
Eugenie’s post comes after the Queen, Kate Middleton and Prince William all wished Meghan happy birthday on social media.
Her Majesty’s twitter account posted: “Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very Happy Birthday today!” The tweet was accompanied by adorable pictures of Meghan with husband Harry, the Queen and son Archie.
William and Kate tweeted: “Wishing a happy 40th birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!”
Prince Charles and Camilla shared their own message, which read: “Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday.”
For more Meghan Markle news, body language expert Judi James reveals what Megan’s latest video appearance really says about her.
Plus, Prince Harry makes hilarious cameo in Meghan’s birthday video as he’s spotted JUGGLING in the background.
And Meghan makes it clear her charity work long began BEFORE she met husband Prince Harry.
