Meghan Markle Reveals Royal Monogram

On Friday, when the Royal Family unveiled the new coat of arms for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, [...]

On Friday, when the Royal Family unveiled the new coat of arms for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they also showed off Meghan Markle's official royal cipher.

meghan markle monogram
(Photo: Kensington Palace)

The cipher, or monogram, is a simple cursive "M" with a crown on top. It is similar to Prince Harry's own cipher, which includes a cursive "H" and a crown to represent the House of Windsor.

According to PEOPLE, Markle's monogram made its debut above the statement announcing the new coat of arms she helped create.

The ciphers are used in a limited capacity, especially compared to the coat of arms. Prince William's "W" can be seen on a special Canadian Royal Standard. William's flag was flown in 2011, during his first royal tour to Canada since marrying Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. A combined cipher for William and Kate topped their wedding cake at their reception in 2011.

Kensington Palace revealed the coat of arms on Friday, including an explanation for every element in the image. It includes several references to Markle's California roots, including blue to represent the Pacific Ocean, golden rays to represent the Southern California sunshine and the California state flower.

The coat of arms also includes quills to represent Markle's work as a calligrapher before she hit it big in Hollywood with the series Suits. She continued to look fondly on her days as a calligrapher, calling handwritten notes a "lost art form" on her blog, The Tig.

"I think handwritten notes are a lost art form," she wrote. "When I booked my first [TV] pilot, my dad wrote me a letter that I still have. The idea of someone taking the time to put pen to paper is really special."

Markle's life as a calligrapher included hand-writing wedding invitations. She even wrote the invitations for Paula Patton's 2005 wedding to Robin Thicke.

"She had this beautiful writing," Patton told Entertainment Tonight. "That moment I feel like I said something to her. Like, 'You are meant to be royal'... She was just so graceful and lovely, and actually really kind."

Markle worked at a Paper Source store in Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2005.

"It was her part-time job as she was going through auditions," Paper Source CEO Winnie Park told PEOPLE in March. "She taught calligraphy and hosted a group of customers and instructed them during a two-hour class on how to do calligraphy."

Park said Markle enjoyed the "creative aspects of the job" and "helping people and also someone who enjoys making creative projects come to life."

"She would have advised customers on projects — from wedding invitations to creating personalized stationary to gift-wrapping," Park told PEOPLE. "She has talked about being a big fan of custom stationary and think it's the best gift to give a friend."

William and Harry married on May 19 and made their public debut as a married couple at a celebration for Prince Charles on Tuesday.

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