A copy of Meghan Markle's children's book allegedly dedicated to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank was offered on eBay for £19,999.99, prompting an unconfirmed report that Eugenie apologized over the apparent resale of a personal gift.
London-based bookseller Drive Easy's Signed Books listed the first edition of The Bench as a presentation copy bearing Meghan's signature and a handwritten message. The listing ended Oct. 2, but there is no confirmed sale or independent authentication of the inscription.
Entertainment reporter Rob Shuter subsequently reported that Eugenie contacted Meghan to explain that she had not knowingly allowed the book to be sold. His account relies on unnamed sources, and neither woman's representatives have publicly confirmed the reported conversation.
"Eugenie called Meghan herself," a source told Shuter, saying the princess was distressed to learn that the book had appeared online. The source said she "made it absolutely clear she would never knowingly sell a personal gift from Meghan."
The central question remains how the bookseller obtained the copy. No publicly established ownership history connects the alleged gift to the listing, and there is no evidence that Eugenie or Brooksbank authorized its sale, donated it or discarded it.
The inscription is addressed to "Eug & Jack" and dated 2021, the year the couple welcomed their son August. It celebrates the relationship between fathers and sons and refers to Frogmore Cottage, where Eugenie and Brooksbank were living after moving there in late 2020.
"I wrote this poem at Frogmore," the message says, before expressing the hope that Eugenie would witness a similar bond within her own family. It closes with "All love, Meghan."
Those details underpin the seller's presentation of the book as an unusual piece of royal memorabilia. The seller also described the handwriting as matching Meghan's calligraphic style, but that description does not amount to independent verification.
The nearly £20,000 asking price reflected the copy's claimed personal connection to members of the Royal Family rather than the value of an ordinary edition. With no confirmed transaction, the listing provides no evidence that a collector was willing to pay that amount.
Shuter's sources suggested that the couple's moves between homes might help explain how the book became separated from their belongings. Storage, misplacement or its being passed along without their knowledge were raised as possibilities, rather than established explanations.
"Eugenie genuinely doesn't know how it left her possession," an insider told Shuter's Naughty But Nice. "What mattered to her was making sure Meghan knew this wasn't some deliberate snub."
The same account said Meghan accepted the explanation. Social-media speculation that the listing exposed a falling-out between the women remains unsupported by the book's appearance on the resale market.
Published on June 8, 2021, The Bench grew out of a poem Meghan wrote for Prince Harry for Father's Day and explores the bond between fathers and sons. Meghan also narrated its audiobook adaptation.
