Meghan Markle's organic shawl for baby Archie is made in Indian factory where workers make $0.44 an hour
The workers who made the organic blanket that the Duchess of Sussex had cuddled baby Archie in while watching Prince Harry play polo earlier this month are paid as little as 37 pence per hour, a report has revealed.
Meghan Markle was seen cradling her son in an Erawan Cotton Dohar—a traditional Indian summer blanket.
The blanket, retailing for £35, is sold by a Hong Kong-based brand called Malabar Baby, which also sells organic baby clothes and accessories for affluent mothers, as reported by DailyMail. MailOnline went to some of the homes of the workers who make the blanket as well as the factory where the blanket is manufactured.
The blanket is manufactured in the small town of Bagru, an hour away from the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. It is manufactured by a textile company called Nayika which also produces other products for Malabar Baby.
A seamstress at the factory, Aruna Regar, who helped to put finishing touches to the 'royal blanket' produced payslips which show that she earns an average of 6,000 rupees per month which is £70 - for a 48 hour week.
The minimum wage for a skilled worker in Jaipur is around 31.125 rupees per hour, which is 36p. When she was told about the cost of the blanket and the royal connection to her handiwork, Regar, 50, almost fainted. She admitted she has never heard of Meghan, baby Archie or Prince Harry but was aware of the Queen.
Regar shared, "The blanket almost costs what I earn in two weeks and that's difficult for me to believe. We struggle to make ends meet and life is very difficult for us. Our conditions in the factory are good and we are not treated badly. But our biggest problem is the money that we earn, it's a pittance. I'm very happy that such an important person is using my blanket because it means there will be more orders for the company and continued work for us."
Regar's husband Ram Gopal also works in the factory as a master cloth cutter.
The family is poor and the family of eight share two rooms which are badly lit and have a limited water supply. "Even though by Indian standards my salary is just above average as a family, if you combine our income, we are poor and things are very hard. We do not know about the world of the rich and famous who buy the things we make," Gopal shared.
Upon being showed a picture of Meghan holding baby Archie in the blanket he helped make, he beamed with pride. "I do not know who these people are but we had heard that somebody very famous was using our dohar. This must be them," Gopal said.
"Perhaps they might want to come and visit me one day to see how I made it? I might be poor but I feel very proud that royal people are using this blanket," he added.
Factory manager Farid Mohammed shared that there has been a four-fold increase in the number of blankets they are making for Malabar Baby.
"Meghan and Archie have been the best advertisement for this product and it has become a global hit. We make all the Malabar Baby range and ensure that this is done to a very high standard," Mohammed shared.