Meghan Markle’s Concert Photos Include a Hidden Tribute to Princess Lilibet

Her daughter was clearly on her mind as Meghan enjoys her “concert era.”

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended a James Taylor concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl on May 13, which Meghan posted about on Instagram the next day.
• In a carousel of photos, she shared a snap of Taylor signing a copy of his 2018 children’s book, Sweet Baby James.
• Further examination of the photo shows a hidden detail many originally missed—that the copy he is signing is written “To Lili,” referring to Princess Lilibet, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s soon-to-be four-year-old daughter.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended their second concert inside of a week on Tuesday, taking in a James Taylor show at the Santa Barbara Bowl on May 13 and meeting the singer-songwriter backstage.

The next day, the Duchess of Sussex shared photos of the backstage moment, including a snap of Taylor signing copies of his 2018 children’s book Sweet Baby James. A hidden detail many missed, though? If you zoom in on Taylor signing a copy of the book, it is personalized to none other than Princess Lilibet—or “Lili,” as is written on the book’s front cover. (The eagle-eyed Elle spotted it.)

“In my concert era,” Meghan captioned the post, alongside a red heart emoji and music notes. “Thanks James!”

That wasn’t the only hidden tribute to Harry and Meghan’s kids that the As Ever founder shared from her newfound “concert era.” On May 9, the Sussexes attended Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour stop at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, and the last photo in Meghan’s Instagram carousel posted the next day showed Harry’s hat, the inside brim of which was monogrammed with the names of Archie and Lili, as well as “My Love,” which is Harry’s nickname for his wife. “My husband’s hat gets a twirl,” Meghan wrote atop the photo.

Taylor’s book Sweet Baby James gets its name from the musician’s 1970 album of the same name, and Taylor previously shared that the book was inspired by his young nephew James, who was named after him.

It has already been a busy month of celebrations for the Sussex family, with Prince Archie turning six years old on May 6 and the kids celebrating Mother’s Day on May 11 by climbing “mama mountain.” On May 19, Harry and Meghan will mark their seventh wedding anniversary, and Lilibet’s fourth birthday is just around the corner on June 4—and we think a signed copy of Sweet Baby James stands a good chance of making it as one of her birthday presents.

Meghan appeared as a guest on a podcast for the first time late last month, joining friend Jamie Kern Lima for an episode of Kern Lima’s eponymous show. In the episode, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that she sends secret emails to Archie and Lilibet that she’ll give them access to when they are teenagers, including photos, videos, and voice notes of memorable moments in emails to the account. Meghan called the emails a “great time capsule” and told Kern Lima that they were “the gift that will cost you nothing, and that will mean everything to your children.”

Inspired by a fellow mom, Meghan said of the idea, “I thought it was such a great time capsule to create for them, because I still have scrapbooks and photo albums, but we’re past that generation now. And so I’d created for the kids these email addresses…that I will give them at some point in their lives when they’re older. But before I go to bed almost every night, I email them.”

When she does give them access to the emails, Meghan said she’ll tell her kids “here’s everything and every moment that I wanted to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you,” hoping her kids will “be able to look back and go, ‘Oh my gosh, she has loved us so much.’ And that’s, I think, the best part about being a mom. And we go back to a love language or gifts. It’s not about the grandeur of a gesture. It’s about, ‘I see you. I’m nurturing you, and I see you so deeply. And I love being able to see your growth.’ And I’m just so proud of them.”