Meghan reads to Archie in video released for his 1st birthday to help raise funds for the pandemic

LONDON: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released a video of Meghan reading to their son as they mark Archie's 1st birthday and promote a campaign to help children during the coronavirus pandemic.

The video shows Meghan sitting with Archie on her lap and reading one of his favorite books, 'Duck! Rabbit!' Archie grabs at the pages and helps turn them during the reading. Harry, who filmed the short video, whoops and says ``bravo'' from behind the camera at the end.

The three-minute video was posted Wednesday on the Instagram accounts of Save With Stories and Save the Children U.K. for a fundraising campaign with the goal of bringing food and learning resources to children and families struggling during the pandemic.

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“Duck! Rabbit!” by @akrfoundation & @tlichtenheld (published by @chroniclekidsbooks). Read by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex (with Harry, The Duke of Sussex behind the camera) to their son Archie for his 1st Birthday. Happy Birthday, Archie! . THIRTY MILLION CHILDREN rely on school for food. Responding to the needs of kids during these school closures @savethechildren and @nokidhungry have a new fund @SAVEWITHSTORIES to support food banks, and mobile meal trucks, and community feeding programs with funds to do what they do best—and also—with educational toys, books, and worksheets to make sure brains are full, as well as bellies. . If you can manage a one time gift of $10, please text SAVE to 20222. If another amount would work better for you, please visit our website—link in bio. There is no maximum and there is no minimum—together we will rise and together we can help. . Thank you and stay safe. XX #SAVEWITHSTORIES

A post shared by #SAVEWITHSTORIES (@savewithstories) on May 6, 2020 at 4:11am PDT

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6, 2019 at London's Portland Hospital. His parents chose not to pose with their newborn outside the hospital, a recent tradition in Harry's family, and decided against giving the baby a royal name.

Archie had an eventful first year. He accompanied his parents on a tour of Africa and at the age of 4 months was introduced to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Harry and Meghan shocked many early this year with an announcement that they intended to quit as senior royals and split their time between Britain and North America. They couple officially stepped down from royal duties at the end of March, saying they were giving up public funding and seeking financial independence.

The family went from living in a cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle, to Vancouver Island in Canada and then on to Los Angeles before lockdown measures commenced.