Princess Eugenie has reportedly contacted Meghan Markle to apologise after a copy of the Duchess of Sussex’s children’s book, The Bench, apparently personalised for Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, unexpectedly appeared for sale on eBay for almost £20,000.
The unusual listing quickly attracted attention from royal watchers, partly because the book appeared to contain a handwritten message from Meghan and partly because neither the provenance of the copy nor the authenticity of the inscription has been independently confirmed.
The listing has since been removed.
Princess Eugenie was reportedly ‘horrified’ by what happened (Image: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
A £20,000 royal mystery
The Bench, published in 2021, tells a story about the bond between a father and son through a mother’s perspective. Meghan has previously said the book grew from a poem she wrote for Prince Harry on his first Father’s Day after the birth of their son, Archie.
A first-edition copy that appeared on eBay was advertised for £19,999.99 or the option to make an offer. The London-based seller described it as a presentation copy allegedly inscribed and signed by Meghan for Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
Photographs in the listing appeared to show a handwritten dedication dated 2021 and addressed to “Eug & Jack”. The message referred to the special bond between father and son and mentioned Frogmore, where Meghan had written the poem that inspired the book.
The inscription appeared to read:
“2021. Dear Eug & Jack, Celebrating the special bond between father and son. I wrote this poem at Frogmore – I hope that Eug, you witness the same love there with your guys. All love, Meghan.”
The handwriting resembles Meghan’s distinctive calligraphy style, but reports have stressed that there is no independent confirmation that Meghan actually wrote or signed the message, or that the book was ever personally given to Eugenie.
This writing was seen inside the book listed on eBay (Image: eBay)
Why Eugenie is reportedly “horrified”
The appearance of the book sparked speculation that Eugenie herself—or someone acting on her behalf—had decided to sell a personal gift.
But according to a source cited by Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack, Eugenie was reportedly shocked by the listing and contacted Meghan directly.
“Eugenie called Meghan herself,” the source claimed. “She was horrified the book had somehow ended up for sale and made it absolutely clear she would never knowingly sell a personal gift from Meghan.”
The report does not establish how the book reached the eBay seller, leaving the circumstances surrounding its appearance unresolved.
Meghan’s spokesperson was contacted for comment about whether the book was genuinely a personalised gift to Eugenie. No confirmation of its provenance had been established when the listing was removed.
The book disappeared from eBay
The listing was subsequently taken down by the seller.
The original eBay page identified the item as a first edition and gave the asking price as £19,999.99. It also stated that the seller was a London-based business specialising in signed books.
The listing had also been described as an official eBay for Charity item, with 10 per cent of the sale intended to benefit the Students’ Education Trust.
Its disappearance only added to the mystery, as there has been no publicly confirmed explanation for how the book came to be offered for sale in the first place.
Meghan and Eugenie’s connection
The incident has attracted particular interest because of the relationship between Meghan and Eugenie.
The personalised message appears to have been dated to 2021, the year Eugenie and Jack welcomed their son, August. The reference to Frogmore also adds a personal connection to the dedication, as Eugenie and Jack lived at the cottage after Harry and Meghan’s departure from the UK.
The unusual appearance of the book online has therefore prompted questions about whether it was genuinely owned by Eugenie, how it may have left her possession, and whether the inscription itself is authentic.
For now, none of those questions has been definitively answered.
Royal fans react
The story quickly spread across social media, with royal watchers offering sharply different reactions.
Some found the situation amusing, while others questioned whether the eBay photographs proved that the book had actually belonged to Eugenie. Online discussion also produced speculation about whether the copy could have changed hands without Eugenie knowingly putting it up for sale.
Those theories remain unconfirmed.
What is established is that a copy of The Bench bearing an alleged personal dedication to Eugenie and Jack was advertised on eBay for almost £20,000 before the listing was removed.
And if the reported account of Eugenie’s reaction is accurate, the Princess was just as surprised as everyone else to see the highly personal-looking gift turn up on the auction site.