Meghan Markle Celebrates 40th Birthday As Fans Raise $46,000 for Charity

Meghan Markle celebrates her 40th birthday Wednesday after her fans raised more than $46,000 for a menstruation charity.

The Duchess of Sussex marks the milestone two months to the day after the birth of her second child, daughter Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

And it comes after a busy year in which she published her first children's book The Bench, accused the royal family of racism in a bombshell CBS prime time special and, together with Prince Harry, launched Netflix and Spotify deals.

However, her Sussex Squad fan base have also been busy raising more than $46,000, at the time of writing, for the Myna Mahila Foundation, which helps support girls in India through menstruation.

The Give Lively fundraising page reads: "As we approach Meghan's 40th birthday the sussexsquad would like to celebrate the occasion with girls & women empowerment, a cause that she has been very passionate & vocal about since her childhood.

"Meghan has long been interested in women's health and ending the stigmas that surround menstruation. She first met and heard activist Suhani Jalota the founder of the Myna Mahila Foundation in 2016.

"In 2017 Meghan visited India, She spent much of her trip talking with women about what can be done to get menstrual health supplies to slums and how to prevent girls from missing school during their periods. During that trip, she also had the chance to visit the foundation's factory.

"In 2018 Myna Mahila Foundation was one of seven charities chosen to benefit from donations marking the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan. It's our pleasure to once again honor Meghan with a fundraiser on her 40th Birthday by selecting this organization to be the recipient of a donations to celebrate her special day!"

The sum raised is a little lower than 2020, when her fans raised $55,000 for African education charity Camfed.

Meghan celebrated her birthday last year during a difficult time just after she experienced a miscarriage in July 2020.

At the time, she was also going through a turbulent phase of her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday over a private letter to her father which the U.K. tabloid published.

However, since then she won a resounding victory over the newspaper on privacy and copyright at the High Court in London.

In September 2020, Meghan and Harry announced their multi-year Netflix deal and by December they released a festive special for their Archewell Audio podcast on Spotify.

In Focus

Meghan Markle at 40

Meghan Markle gives an interview alongside Prince Harry to Oprah Winfrey for a CBS prime time special which was broadcast on March 7, 2021. Meghan turns 40 today, on August 4, 2021.

Launch Slideshow 3 PHOTOS

Also in December 2020, Meghan invested in her first start-up, an instant oak milk latte brand called Clevr Blends.

In April, the company's chief executive spoke of the impact her support had on their growth.

Hannah Mendoza told Fortune: "We knew this was going to be a big moment for us, but we didn't predict it was going to be as big as it was. We were on a really strong growth trajectory, especially for a bootstrapped brand, and it really put fuel on the fire."

However, Meghan's biggest public move of the year was the tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 when she told the world she experienced suicidal thoughts amid negative publicity while in the royal family.

She also told the world an unnamed royal expressed concern about how dark her unborn baby's skin might be and that sister-in-law Kate Middleton made her cry.

Prince Harry told Oprah his family cut him off financially after they quit royal life and his father Prince Charles stopped returning his calls while he was trying to negotiate his exit.

However, Meghan's 40th year ended happily as the young family welcomed a new arrival—Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Meghan's second child and first daughter was born on June 4 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces.

Two days later, Meghan and Harry announced the happy news through their Archewell website, where they said: "On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family."