In October 2024, the Duchess of Sussex was a surprise guest at a gala fundraiser for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She wore a red dress and she looked lovely, happy and rich. The British media had a really bonkers meltdown over it and they were still ranting about “Meghan wearing a red dress at a hospital fundraiser” for days, weeks and months after the fact. I bring this up because clearly, Meghan knows people at CHLA and she’s stepped out before to support the hospital and the kids who receive treatment there. Well, this week, Meghan stopped by CHLA to spend time with some of the kids. It’s likely that CHLA asked her to support their latest campaign, Make March Matter. The hospital posted photos of Meghan wearing a mask and spending time with kids. From the hospital’s Instagram:
Today we were honored to welcome LA’s own @meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to CHLA’s Creative Oasis, where she spent time painting alongside our incredible patients. 🎨 ✨ These special moments are a reminder of how powerful creativity can be in fostering joy, connection, and healing.
Meghan’s visit is part of #MakeMarchMatter, our month-long fundraising campaign supporting the lifesaving care, research, and innovation that happens at CHLA every day. For 125 years, CHLA has been a steadfast beacon of hope and healing.
You, too, can make an impact by shopping, dining, or attending an event with a #MakeMarchMatter participating business. For more info, visit makemarchmatter.org
“LA’s own” – tell ‘em!! Meghan is a proud Angeleno. Per People Magazine, “Make March Matter is an annual fundraising campaign for CHLA that unites celebrities, businesses, and the greater community in support of its mission of creating hope and building healthier futures. Funds raised will help ensure the hospital can provide sick and critically injured children with the best quality care, research and innovation that happens at CHLA every day for the last 125 years.” Basically, it’s one of the hospital’s fundraising and awareness-raising drives. Just a glance through CHLA’s Instagram shows how many celebrities and athletes are participating in Make March Matter – several professional ice hockey players from the LA Kings were there, visiting the kids. Jeff Goldblum and his wife were recently there. John Stamos and Jamie Lee Curtis were there too (JLC was there in February). I guarantee that more celebrities will stop by now that Meghan’s visit is getting national and international attention.
Meanwhile, Tom Sykes wrote a new Substack column about Meghan’s CHLA appearance and how it made him feel “queasy.” He described the photos as “jarring” and yet he also claimed that Meghan was clearly copying Princess Kate. Sykes also claims that Meghan’s “brand” is “chaotic.” Yes, who would believe that Meghan continues to support CHLA and that she would visit sick kids, just weeks after… she visited hospitals in Jordan and spent time with children there as well. Her brand is in chaos, I swear!! Sykes also tries to argue that people who get paid to do other work can’t also do charity work or philanthropic work. Like, what are we doing here?
Incidentally, most American celebrities make time to do charity work, regardless of their personal “brand.” It matters to those kids too – Kim Kardashian has been supporting this exact same Make March Matter campaign for years.
Fashion note by CB: Meghan is wearing the Heidi Merrick Finny Cardigan. Her color is sold out but you can still get it in black or red.
Photos courtesy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’s Instagram.
