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Kate Garraway has questioned if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released their Christmas card featuring the first public photo of their daughter Lilibet to ‘usurp the Queen’.
The TV host, 54, who will tonight be appearing in Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, organised by Kate Middleton, discussed the card on Good Morning Britain today, where she questioned why it was released on the same day as Her Majesty’s.
The family image shows Meghan, 40, holding up their giggling daughter, while smiling Harry, 37, looks on with his arm around their two-year-old son Archie in the portrait by Alexi Lubomirski, who shot the couple’s engagement photos and the official family portraits on their wedding day.
Archie, who looks just like his dad with a shock of red hair, is casually dressed in jeans like the rest of the family, and his face is on show. After his first birthday, Harry and Meghan stopped sharing photos with his face, and only released pictures of the youngster from behind.
Discussing the timing of the card release as the Queen released images and photos from her Christmas speech, co-host Richard Bacon said: ‘They released their card half an hour before Buckingham Palace and the Queen did.
Kate then asked: ‘So is there a suggestion, Richard, that they kind of did that to in some way usurp the Queen?’
Kate Garraway has questioned if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released their Christmas card featuring the first public photo of their daughter Lilibet to ‘usurp the Queen’. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally shown the first photo of their daughter Lilibet Diana, six months after she was born, in their family Christmas card (pictured)
The Sussexes, who are currently residing in a $14.7million mansion in Montecito, released the card (pictured) to announce they’ve made a donation to several charities, including an organisation that supports Afghan families left behind after the US withdrawal and Paid Leave For All
The Sussexes, who are currently residing in a $14.7million mansion in Montecito, released the card to announce they’ve made a donation to several charities, including an organisation that supports Afghan families left behind after the US withdrawal and Paid Leave For All, in line with the Duchess’ recent campaigning for a paid family leave law for all Americans.
‘It sounds ridiculous to me but that is obviously the suggestion,’ Richard replied.
‘I think when you live on the west coast over there [in America], you’re just the tiny bit not sure what time it is over here.’
Kate then asked ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship for his take on the card, saying: ‘Is that what you think?’
‘It had to be released at some point, The Queen’s picture was released at 10:30pm and that Harry and Meghan photo dropped into my inbox at around 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon.
‘I don’t agree that it was done to usurp the Queen, no.’
Political commentator Iain Dale, who was appearing on the show, added: ‘I think it’s a lovely picture, why do people have to over analyse these things?
Kate Garraway has questioned if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released their Christmas card featuring the first public photo of their daughter Lilibet to ‘usurp the Queen’
‘I doubt they would know when Buckingham Palace would release the other one.’
In the photograph, Harry, Meghan and Archie all opt for a low-key look in denim jeans, with the Duchess teaming hers with a navy jumper, while the Duke wears a blue shirt and his son a white one. The couple’s daughter giggles while wearing a white ensemble.
The look was decidedly casual for the Duchess, who is known for her love of designer clothes and expensive personalised jewellery.
Today’s card marks a change for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have hidden their children’s faces in recent photographs.
Archie has rarely been seen since the couple stepped back as senior royals in March last year, with the most recent picture of him released to mark his second birthday this May showing him with his back to the camera.
The Queen will pay a moving tribute to her ‘beloved’ Prince Philip in tomorrow’s Christmas Day message, sat beside a framed picture of the royal couple (pictured). On her jacket is the sapphire chrysanthemum brooch which she wore in a photograph to mark her 73rd wedding anniversary with Philip in November last year
The family image shows Meghan, 40, holding up their giggling daughter, while smiling Harry, 37, looks on with his arm around their two-year-old son Archie in the portrait by Alexi Lubomirski, who shot the couple’s engagement photos and the official family portraits on their wedding day.
During the Oprah Winfrey interview and Prince Harry’s mental health documentary, he made an appearance but royal fans were only be able to get a glimpse of the youngster’s face.
It also marks the first time royal fans have been able to see Lilibet’s face. Meghan is thought to have revealed a grainy first photograph of her second child after a framed picture of Prince Harry kissing a newborn baby took pride of place on her desk in a video for her 40th birthday.
Three further black and white photos could be seen in a connected frame in front of this, with the central one seeming to show Harry kissing a baby and one on the right potentially showing Meghan holding a young child.
Alexi Lubomirski, the photographer behind the Sussexes’ Christmas card, took to Instagram today to share his work.
He wrote in the caption: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archie and Lilibet. This is one of those rare and special projects, that one is fortunate enough to be a part of.
‘To be able to continue the story of this family whom I first photographed as an engaged couple, then on the day of their wedding, as a married couple and now seeing their love manifest into two beautiful children, has been a delightful honour.
‘Anyone who has seen my #allloveseries, will know that one of the greatest joys I receive from photography, is when I am able to photograph “love” in some form or another.
‘To be trusted by your subjects enough, to open themselves up and have their connection documented and translated into an image, is one of the greatest gifts a photographer can have.
‘This day with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was one such joyous experience, and one that I feel extremely privileged to have been invited to capture. X’
Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second child, was born on June 4 in Santa Barbara, California, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and is eighth in line to the throne.
She was named after the Queen’s childhood nickname, while her middle name Diana was in tribute to Harry’s late mother. The baby weighed 7lbs 11oz.
No photographs of Lilibet were released following her birth, unlike her brother Archie, who had a photocall at Windsor Castle in 2019.
The charities Harry and Meghan have donated to ‘on your behalf’ include Paid Leave for All, a national US campaign fighting to bring paid family and medical leave for all working people.
Meghan, who has largely been on parental leave since the birth of her daughter in June, has been lobbying for US Congress to consider making paid family leave law for all Americans, citing her own experience as a new working mother.
In October Meghan wrote a letter to US congressmen Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer asking for paid parental leave, which said: ‘I’m not an elected official, and I’m not a politician. I’m writing to you at this deeply important time – as a mom – to advocate for paid leave.’
The 1,030-word letter asked the two Democratic leaders to consider her plea ‘on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry’.
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