Harry and Meghan to celebrate son Archie’s first birthday
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will celebrate the first birthday of their son Archie – while under lockdown in the US.
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor turns one on Wednesday but the milestone is likely to be marked by just Harry and Meghan in person.
The couple have made Los Angeles their home and they and other residents of California have been living under a “stay-at-home” order made by the state’s governor Gavin Newsom.
America is where they plan to bring up their son after walking away from the royal family in order to become financially independent, after their hopes of earning money while still supporting the Queen were ruled out.
Archie received happy birthday wishes from the official social media accounts of the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which all featured pictures of the young royal.
A post on the monarch’s official Twitter account said: “Happy Birthday to Archie Mountbatten-Windsor who is celebrating his 1st birthday today! Archie is The Queen’s eighth great-grandchild.”
The young royal has experienced an eventful 12 months since he was born at London’s Portland Hospital – first living in a cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle, then an exclusive home on Vancouver Island in Canada and now in the sprawling metropolis known as the City of Angels.
Archie was born on May 6 2019 at 5.26am, weighing 7lb 3oz, and a few days after his birth his parents proudly showed him to the world, before the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh saw the infant for the first time.
Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, was pictured at the royal gathering and she has been a constant presence in the Sussexes lives, and lives in Los Angeles where Meghan grew up and went to school.
Fans will be hoping the couple follow royal tradition and release a picture of Archie, who has rarely been seen in public.
He received his greatest exposure when the Sussexes took their son on his first royal tour, visiting South Africa last autumn when he was four months old.
The royal baby received a welcome kiss from Archbishop Desmond Tutu when Harry and Meghan introduced him to one of the heroes of the anti-Apartheid movement.
Archie made an impression with the Archbishop’s daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, who joked the young royal favoured “ladies better” when she caught him glancing in her direction and Meghan declared “he likes to flirt”.
Earlier in 2019 Archie was photographed in his mother’s arms while his father took part in a charity polo match.
Meghan and Harry are the subject of a highly anticipated book, due for publication in August, which its authors have said they want to be a “definitive story” about the couple.
And in another development in their lives, the duchess lost the first High Court skirmish in her claim against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday over publication of a “private and confidential” letter to her estranged father.
Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers over five articles, two in the Mail on Sunday and three on MailOnline, which were published in February 2019 and reproduced parts of a handwritten letter she sent to Thomas Markle, 75, in August 2018.
In a ruling last Friday, Mr Justice Warby struck out parts of Meghan’s claim against the publisher, including allegations that it acted “dishonestly” by leaving out certain passages of the letter, following an application by Associated Newspapers.