The Christmas greetings from the Dukes of Sussex arrived – to all friends linked to their Archewell Foundation – through a card which collects, as in a collage, some significant shots of the past year. Including the one in which they appear the couple’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, aged 5 and 3.
“On behalf of the office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archewell Productions and the Archewell Foundation”, reads the message sent on December 16th by the couple’s communications office, the production company and the foundation. “We wish you happy holidays and a joyful new year.” There are six photos, on a dark green background, and portray Harry and Meghan in some key moments: Meghan hugging a little girl, Harry and Meghan in an affectionate attitude, a photo of their trip to Colombia and one of Harry visiting a hospital. In the centre, at the top, the closest thing to a family portrait that the couple can give: he and she with open arms, meet (perhaps after a trip) their children, Archie and Lilibet, who go to meet them together with the three dogs of the family, namely the beagles Mamma Mia and Guy and the labrador Pula. The shot brings to mind one of Lady Diana’s most famous photos: the one in which, returning from a trip to Canada, she runs to hug Harry and William, who were 7 and 11 years old at the time.
Ma it also says something else: it confirms the choice of the Dukes of Sussex to protect the privacy of their children, because it doesn’t allow you to see their faces.
In fact, the last photo of the children dates back to 2021 and if the docuseries Harry e Meghan on Netflix, which debuted in December 2022, has given many glimpses into their private life and many images of the two, since they were very young, no other images have been released publicly. Compared to then, the children appear naturally grown up and both appear to have long hair; “My children have been blessed with their mother’s thick hair,” the prince said recently. Lilibet is dressed in a floral dress and white knee-high socks, “English style”you could say, a bit like her little cousin Charlotte, an unusual choice given the context in which she was born and raised.
“Harry is reluctant to show his children publicly, not out of a desire to hide them but to protect their privacy and safety from potential threats. He wants them to lead as normal a life as possible without fear of kidnapping or harm,” a friend said of the prince to PEOPLE last summer.
Harry and Meghan’s Christmas cards from past years
The first arrives in 2019 and portrays a small, curious Baby Archie who gets too close to the camera lens…
2020: The Sussexes celebrate their first Christmas in their Montecito home and share a family portrait… illustrated. There are also their dogs, Guy and Pula, and little Archie, 18 months old, in the drawing created from a photo taken by Meghan’s mother, Doria, for the association that the dukes choose to support, Mayhew Animal Charity.
2021: the first postcard in which Lilibet Diana also appears.
2022: no more children. Harry and Meghan portrayed alone.
2023: alone again. In the photo taken at the Invictus Games, closing ceremony, in Dusseldorf.
