During a recent speaking event near her luxurious Montecito home, Meghan Markle offered rare insights into her family life with Prince Harry and their children.

The Duchess of Sussex, now 44, opened up about her parenting approach for daughter Lilibet, aged four, and son Archie, who is six.

“The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is play music throughout the house,” she revealed.

Meghan also mentioned that when she travels with her family, she ensures to pack a portable speaker to maintain their musical routine, along with a scented candle.

“I always carry a candle with me. I am very sensitive to fragrances and they remind me of home,” she explained during a book event at Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, supporting her friend Courtney Adamo.

Meghan Markle made rare comments about her home life with Prince Harry and their children during a speaking engagement near her Montecito, California, mansion on Thursday. 

The Duchess of Sussex , 44, shared intimate details of how she is raising daughter Lilibet, four, and son Archie, six

Adamo, who co-founded the widely-read UK parenting blog Babyccino Kid, had invited Meghan to take part in the event.

The discussion revolved around her new family-focused interior design book, The Family Home: Inspiring Ideas for a Home Filled with Joy

One technique Meghan uses with her young children is the ‘rose and thorn’ ritual which is helpful when kids often only give ‘yes and no answers,’ she explained.

‘Our daughter she’s four and she’s a very strong personality and she’s incredible,’ Markle said. 

‘And now she’s in this moment where I say, “What’s your rose and your thorn?” And she goes, ‘My day was just a blast.” 

Another ritual she and Harry share with Archie and Lilibet is the ‘healing blanket’, which was a gift from the bookstore’s co-founder Victoria Jackson.

Meghan revealed that whenever one of them isn’t feeling well, they reach for the ‘healing blanket’ to comfort them.

Meghan was invited to participate in the event by her close friend Courtney Adamo who co-founded the popular UK parenting blog Babyccino Kid

‘First thing I do when I wake up in the morning is turn the music on in the house,’ Meghan shared. And when she is traveling with her family, she revealed that she takes a portable speaker along so she can continue the music routine

‘I always travel with a candle. I am so conscious and sensitive to fragrance and I associate that with home,’ Meghan shared during the book event. ‘And there’s no safer place that you feel than in your home.’

Another ritual she and Harry share with Archie and Lilibet is the ‘healing blanket’, which was a gift from the bookstore’s co-founder Victoria Jackson. Meghan revealed that whenever one of them isn’t feeling well, they reach for the ‘healing blanket’ to comfort them. 

The royal couple have close ties to Godmothers (pictured), which was co-founded by their close friends, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson, and backed by Oprah Winfrey

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have close ties to Godmothers, which is backed by billionaire Oprah Winfrey who also lives in Montecito near the Sussexes $29 million mansion.

A photo of the pair taken at Godmothers’ 2024 grand opening is prominently displayed inside the bookstore, along with Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, and Markle’s 2021 children’s book, The Bench, in the ‘local authors’ section.

‘We’ve been friends since college just so you know,’ Markle eagerly told the crowd in reference to her decades-long friendship with Adamo.

Markle added that she and Adamo met ‘when [they] were 17’ and shared how their upbringings differed.

‘She grew up on a tulip farm. I did not grow up on a tulip farm,’ said Markle, who made reference to ‘growing up in a small duplex’ in Los Angeles soon after.

‘I learned so many things from Courtney,’ Markle stressed.

She then recalled a time when she and Adamo, who were in the same sorority at Northwestern University, had planned to make a trip from their home in California back to school in Chicago, Illinois back in 2001.

‘We were meant to fly [to Chicago] but we here’s why we didn’t: because 9/11 happened on that same day,’ she shared with the stunned audience.

‘So the two of us ended up driving 30 hours over three days. 10 hours a day. From Los Angeles to Chicago together at one of the most fragile, tender times in this country.’

Markle said the moment made her realize the importance of ‘community’ and ‘what people need in moments when you are wanting to feel safe.

‘And there’s no safer place that you feel than in your home.’

After their chat, Markle put on her hostess hat and whisked lucky attendees to the bookstore’ patio, where she served up glasses of ‘beautifully crafted’ Sauvignon Blanc from her wine line, As Ever.

One technique Meghan uses with her young children is the ‘rose and thorn’ ritual which is helpful when kids often only give ‘yes and no answers,’ she explained. ‘Our daughter she’s four and she’s a very strong personality and she’s incredible,’ Markle said. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last made a publicized appearance at Godmothers’ in September 2024 for its star-studded grand opening.

Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, her wife Portia de Rossi were among just some of the A-list attendees at the opening of the business located in a white barn near a beach cafe.

The second floor is home to a lounge where members who pay $200-a-month can relax. 

Jackson has described the Godmothers community as ‘somebody who roots for you, who supports you, who advocates for you. It’s somebody who is found family.’

And both Markle and her husband appeared right at home at the opening event as they posed for photos with their founder pals and cheered them on from the sidelines.

Jackson, who has been close to the royal couple since their arrival in California in 2020, said at the time that she wanted Godmothers to be a ‘safe space’ for Meghan and Harry.

‘Seeing them be able to come here and be in a safe space… it’s what we want it to be.’