It sounds like Christmas of 2019 wasn’t completely merry for Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family.

According to royal biographer Christopher Andersen, who spoke to Us Weekly, Queen Elizabeth made a last-minute decision to exclude Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and baby Archie from her annual Christmas broadcast after learning of her grandson’s wish to step back from his senior royal title. (The couple didn’t announce their decision until January 2020.) 

The queen reportedly chose to have a photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex removed from her desk during the taping, despite their prominent placement the year before. Notably, a large photo of the Cambridge family—Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—was featured.

“The queen hasn’t decided what to do about [Prince Harry’s decision to leave],” Andersen told Us Weekly. “There’s a point at which—just before she gives a speech to the director on set—[she is] asked which photographs she wants in the shot next to her.” The queen reportedly pointed to a photo of the Sussex family and said, “We won’t be needing that one.” 

Andersen describes the moment as a “turning point” in Prince Harry’s relationship with his grandmother. “There are all sorts of subtle messages that are conveyed in this, kind of soap opera that goes on,” the author explained. “In 2018, she sat there in front of a Christmas tree. She gave her Christmas address and there were the family photos…including Archie and Meghan and Harry, very prominently displayed.”

Of course, the blatant omission of his family would be painful for Prince Harry. “I think that was a hurtful [thing for him to see],” Andersen continued. “A friend of Harry’s told me that he felt that he was being erased in a sense from the family. And it was right after that, that they made their [decision to leave the U.K.]. I think that was one of the things that prompted them to issue the statement that they were stepping back from royal [life for a] full-time real life.”

He continued, “It seems very subtle, but when you think about it, when somebody cuts you out of the family album, so to speak, it’s a pretty strong message.” 

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Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor turned two on May 6, and while the celebration may have been low-key—paparazzi plus pandemic equals no big bashes for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry—it was still special.

“While Harry and Meghan are raising Archie to be grounded, they go the extra mile on his birthday,” a source told Us Weekly, adding that Prince Harry and Markle “made [his] card themselves and wrote a sweet poem inside, splashed out on gifts—including outdoor toys—and have bought him the cutest birthday outfit!” Wish we could see pics! Markle and Prince Harry have great style, so I can only imagine what ’fits they have for Archie.

Adding that the royals were “spending the day privately” at home in Montecito, California, the source explained, “They want Archie to grow up understanding the importance of giving back.” In honor of their son’s birthday, the pair asked fans and followers to donate to Global Citizen’s vaccine equity fundraiser. “We cannot think of a more resonant way to honor our son’s birthday. If we all show up, with compassion for those we both know and don’t know, we can have a profound impact,” they wrote in a post on their Archewell Foundation website. The couple also released an adorable snap of their son playing outside.

Two is certainly the number of the moment. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are currently expecting their second child, a daughter, due to arrive this summer. Says the source, “Harry and Meghan feel so blessed to have such an articulate and caring child. Archie is learning to count already and keeps saying, ‘Two!’”

The youngster also received well-wishes from his family across the pond. Prince William and Kate Middleton posted a sweet happy birthday message on Instagram, as did the Royal Family Instagram account and Clarence House, the account for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

We have been deeply touched over the past two years to feel the warmth and support for our family in honor of Archie’s birthday. Many of you donate to charities on his behalf, and mark the occasion by giving back or doing an act of service—all through the goodness of your hearts. You raise funds for those who need it most, and continue to do so organically and selflessly. We remain incredibly grateful. 

This year, our world continues to be on the path to recovery from COVID-19. Yet too many families are still struggling with the impact of this pandemic. While some places are on the verge of healing, in so many parts of the world, communities continue to suffer. As of today, around 80 percent of the nearly one billion COVID-19 vaccine shots that have been given were administered in wealthier countries. While we may feel that normalcy is around the corner, we remind ourselves that in much of the world, and especially in developing countries, vaccine distribution has effectively yet to start. 

We will not be able to truly recover until everyone, everywhere, has equal access to the vaccine. And with that intention, we are inviting you to contribute whatever you can—if you have the means to do so—to bring vaccines to families in the world’s most vulnerable places. 

For a donation of just $5, you can cover the cost of a dose for someone in need. And because we were able to secure matching support from a number of organizations, that $5 you give will automatically turn into $20—covering the cost of four doses. Every single dollar counts—not only will it help save lives but it will help save families and communities.

We cannot think of a more resonant way to honor our son’s birthday. If we all show up, with compassion for those we both know and don’t know, we can have a profound impact. Even a small contribution can have a ripple effect.

Together, we can uplift, protect, and care for one another.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have a fancy Netflix deal, but they’re not the only royal couple getting into the content game. Prince William and Kate Middleton are now on YouTube, and their first video includes the type of candid, flirty moments we typically don’t see from them.

Posted on Wednesday, May 5, “Welcome to our official YouTube channel!” is the first video from the newly created account for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It’s just a 25-second video, but it gives viewers a glimpse of the couple’s travels and events, which will presumably be documented and shared on the new channel. “By the way, be careful what you say now, because these guys, they’re filming everything,” Prince William says cheekily to Middleton, who smiles and says, “I know!” My heart. 

Later in the video, there’s an outtake from the couple’s Saint Patrick’s Day video. Dressed in green, Middleton tells her husband, “You don’t need to roll your r.”

The description of the video points viewers toward video playlists including “Mental Health,” “The Early Years,” and the couple’s “Engagements,” all populated with videos from the royal family’s YouTube account. In the past, videos from the family have all gone up there and been shared to the Cambridge’s Instagram and Twitter pages when appropriate. The fact that they now have their own separate YouTube page makes us think they’re going to start sharing more, and more often. But that’s just a guess.

The couple recently celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary with—what else?—a cute video! There’s no banter, but in the 40-second clip, they play, hike, and roast marshmallows with their three children. It’s basically the world’s most effective J.Crew ad, and we mean that in the most positive sense. Seems Prince William and Kate Middleton have caught the vlogger bug.

Keep being photogenic, you two!

Happy birthday, Princess Charlotte!

On May 1, just one day ahead of Princess Charlotte’s sixth birthday, royal reporters released an adorable new portrait of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s only daughter. In keeping with tradition, the photo was taken by Middleton just this weekend in Norfolk.

In the photo, Princess Charlotte is all smiles in a sweet floral dress by Rachel Riley UK, according to royal reporter Emily Nash. Check out the image for yourself:

People in the comments seem to be debating over whether the young princess looks more like her father, Prince William, or her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, but she looks just like her dad to me! Let’s see a side-by-side:

But what about when Prince William was a kid? The resemblance gets even stronger:

Just for fun, here’s a photo of Princess Diana and Prince William that was taken on May 2, 1988, when he was almost six years old:

Last year, when portraits of Princess Charlotte were released on the little girl’s fifth birthday, the internet noticed that she bore a striking resemblance to her second cousin, Lady Sarah Chatto. For those of you not up on your royal lineage, Lady Sarah is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth’s only sister, Princess Margaret. Victoria Arbiter, the royal reporter who posted the comparison on Twitter, also pointed out that Lady Sarah and Charlotte were born almost exactly 52 years apart (Lady Sarah’s birthday is May 1, 1964). Now it seems Charlotte has two royal doppelgängers.

Typically,  Kensington Palace would release the official portrait on their Instagram page, as they recently did on Prince Louis’ third birthday, but the Duke of Cambridge is currently boycotting social media over the weekend to protest online harassment in sports.

While the royal family may wait until Monday to share the portrait, we’re sure they’re celebrating Princess Charlotte’s big day all the same. 

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This is confusing: I could have sworn Prince Louis was a literal baby yesterday? But apparently the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge turned three years old on April 23, and he rides a bike and attends school (well, preschool). Devastating for us, but lovely for him!

In honor of the young royal’s birthday, his parents released a new picture of him posing on a tiny red bike (no training wheels in sight—impressive) on Instagram—taken by Kate Middleton, as most of the family’s more candid portraits are. “Three tomorrow! ?” reads the caption, which specified that the photo was “Taken earlier this week by The Duchess before he left for his first day of nursery.” Ugh, they grow up so fast.

Prince Louis would likely have started “nursery” at two like his older siblings if it weren’t for the global pandemic that shut down schools this time last year. E! reports that Prince Louis, like Princess Charlotte and Prince George, will attend Willcocks Nursery School in London, while his older siblings are now at Thomas’s Battersea. We remember when he was doing rainbow finger painting.

While U.K. schools were closed for most of the past year, Prince William and Kate Middleton became their kids’ tutors, which they admitted was a challenge. “George gets very upset because he just wants to do all of Charlotte’s projects,” revealed Middleton. “Making spider sandwiches is far cooler than doing literacy work.”

In a conversation with other parents in January, she reflected on the many hats they all wore during this unusual time. “As parents, we have day-to-day elements of being a parent, but, I suppose, during lockdown we’ve had to take on additional roles that others in our community and lives would have helped us with,” she said. “I know how challenging it is juggling work, home life, school life, and everything else that you, as parents, are doing, so really well done.”

Prince Harry and Prince William just reunited at the funeral for their grandfather, Prince Phillip. 

On April 17, the brothers made their first appearance since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey about their departure from royal life in the U.K. This also marks Prince Harry’s first visit to the U.K. since moving to the United States in March 2020.

During the procession, Prince Harry and Prince William were separated by their cousin, Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne. This was not due to any drama surrounding the younger brother’s tell-all, but “a practical change rather than sending a signal.” 

“This is a funeral and we are not going to be drawn into perceptions of drama,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said in a statement, per People.  “The arrangements have been agreed and represent Her Majesty’s wishes.”

After the funeral, the brothers were spotted walking back from St. George’s Chapel together, chatting one-on-one.

While Markle, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, could not attend the service, this should also not be used as fodder for gossip. “The Duchess of Sussex has been advised by her physician not to travel,” a royal spokesman said earlier this week.

On April 17, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be laid to rest at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, west of London, per CNN. Because of the pandemic, there will be only 30 or so mourners in attendance, with no option for the public to gather. However, all are invited to watch a livestream of the event, starting at 2:30 p.m. BST on the royal family’s YouTube channel.

For the time-zone-math averse, the U.K. is eight hours ahead of the West Coast, six ahead of Central Time, and five ahead of the East Coast. Translation: 2:30 p.m. across the pond is 6:30 a.m. on the West, 8:30 a.m. in the middle of the country, and 9:30 a.m. in the east. 

Now, the YouTube channel—and this is important because if you Google “royal family YouTube channel,” the first entry is a verified account called the Royal Family Channel. That’s not the right account. You’re looking for the second entry, the Royal Family, which, yes, is at YouTube.com/TheRoyalFamilyChannel. Perhaps that other channel is being intentionally confusing to get clicks but, in any case, here is the link to the correct YouTube account.

For those without internet access (how are you reading this?) or who prefer a little commentary, both CNN and MSNBC will air Prince Philip’s funeral live, and we wouldn’t be surprised if other networks include coverage in their morning reports as well.

Between the church service and other logistics, there will be a long procession, at which both Prince Harry and Prince William will walk behind their grandfather’s casket, but not together. They will be separated by a few other family members in the procession, which a spokesperson assured the public has nothing to do with drama. A Buckingham Palace spokesman explained, per People, this is “a practical change rather than sending a signal.”

The spokesman added, “This is a funeral, and we are not going to be drawn into perceptions of drama. The arrangements have been agreed and represent Her Majesty’s wishes.”

The royal family just released some never-before-seen pictures of Prince Philip with his great-grandchildren.

In a post from Wednesday, April 14, the royal family’s Instagram account writes, “The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh surrounded by seven of their great-grandchildren at Balmoral Castle in 2018.” Alongside this caption is a sweet and intimate portrait of the monarch, her husband, and their sprawling descendants, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.

People reports that two great-grandchildren not in the picture (because they hadn’t been born yet) have Philip as their middle name: Princess Eugenie’s son, August, and Zara Tindall’s son, Lucas.

On her Instagram, Princess Eugenie (Prince Philip’s granddaughter) shared not only photos but a heartfelt letter about the Duke of Edinburgh. She wrote, “Dearest Grandpa,⁣ We all miss you. ⁣You would be so touched by all the tributes that have been shared with me the past few days. ⁣People remember sitting next to you at a dinner, or shaking your hand once, who remember you saying hello in passing, or remember how much their DofE award meant to them.”

She continued, “I remember learning how to cook, how to paint, what to read. I remember laughing at your jokes and asking about your spectacular life and service in the navy…I remember incinerating the sausages and you swooping in to save the day.⁣ I remember your hands and your laugh and your favourite beer. ⁣I will remember you in your children, your grandchildren and great grandchildren. ⁣Thank you for your dedication and love for us all and especially Granny, who we will look after for you.”

Prince William and Prince Harry have posted tributes, as well. “My grandfather was a man of service, honour and great humour,” the latter wrote. “He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm—and also because you never knew what he might say next…master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end.” Meanwhile, Prince William posted, “My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation. Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support The Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.”

Queen Elizabeth is easing her way back into royal duties following the passing of her husband, Prince Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh passed away at the age of 99 on April 9, two months before his 100th birthday. The funeral will be held on April 17 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and be televised in the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday, April 13, Queen Elizabeth hosted a retirement ceremony for Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel, who is the most senior officer in the royal household. She met with Earl Peel at Windsor Castle, according to the Court Circular.

“The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia of Office as Lord Chamberlain and the Badge of Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order and took leave upon relinquishing his appointment as Lord Chamberlain, when Her Majesty invested him with the Royal Victorian Chain,” the Court Circular read. 

Earl Peel will still oversee the funeral of the late prince’s death, People reports. The news of his passing was announced via a statement from Buckingham Palace.

“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” it read. “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”

It continued, “Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.” 

Both Prince William and Prince Harry released statements about their grandfather. “My grandfather was a man of service, honour, and great humour. He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm—and also because you never knew what he might say next,” Prince Harry wrote. “He was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end.” 

Prince William’s statement read, “My grandfather’s century of life was defined by service—to his country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family. I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life—both through good times and the hardest days.”