Prince Archie’s birth in 2019 made international news, but while the world rejoiced, his parents found themselves feeling trapped within the royal family. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were determined to do things their way instead of following strict protocols, like posing for a photograph with their newborn in front of the hospital. They’d been married barely a year, and already the monarchy and the relentless British media was wearing them down.

Archie’s sister, Princess Lilibet, entered a world vastly different from her brother. She was born in 2021 after Harry and Meghan left the royal family. No palace official announced her birth to the public, no photocall was required from her parents to show her off to eager members of the press, and above all, she was born in the United States, thousands of miles from the institution that sent her parents fleeing from the U.K.

Even though Harry and Meghan won’t ever be able to escape their fame, their kids will at least get to grow up outside of the fishbowl known as the British monarchy. But many royal experts and authors have since questioned whether that’s truly for the best, because at present, the young royals are estranged from their extended family and might never quite experience what it’s like to be a part of the British royal family. On paper, it may seem like Archie and Lilibet have the best of both worlds, when in reality, their story is full of tragic details. 

Some royals were concerned about Archie’s skin color

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After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the royal family, they sat down for a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in which they discussed life behind the palace walls. In the 2021 interview, the couple made some shocking claims. One thing that really raised viewers’ eyebrows was Meghan’s allegation that some royal family members had made some negative comments about Prince Archie’s skin color. “[There were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan said (via People). “It was awkward. I was a bit shocked,” Harry said, adding that the topic was first brought up when he started dating Meghan. “That was right at the beginning: What will the kids look like?”

Meghan also seemed to insinuate that, because Archie is biracial, the palace denied him a title. “They didn’t want him to be a prince … which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” she said. When asked to name who made the comments about Archie’s skin color, neither Harry nor Meghan was forthcoming, saying it would cause a lot of damage. Harry did, however, tell Winfrey that neither Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip made the aforementioned remarks about Archie’s skin color. It’s worth noting that Archie did receive a royal title after King Charles III ascended the throne.

Archie was born during a difficult period for his family

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Prince Archie’s first few years were anything but easy. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went through an incredibly stressful time before and after Archie’s birth. During the Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan shared that she had suicidal thoughts while she was pregnant with Archie but that she wasn’t allowed to get the help she needed. “It was very clear and very scary. I just didn’t see a solution,” she said (via Cosmopolitan). “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. That was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”

When Archie was still a baby, Meghan and Harry embarked on a royal tour. While the family was in South Africa, a heater in Archie’s room caught fire. Luckily, he was downstairs with his nanny at the time. Meghan was understandably shaken but revealed on the first episode of her “Archetypes” podcast that she had to simply continue with royal engagements as if nothing happened.

After the Sussexes left the royal family behind, Meghan and Harry stayed in Vancouver for a short while. However, it became clear rather quickly that they would not catch a break across the pond: Shortly after relocating, Meghan was followed by a photographer while she was out at a park with Archie. Paparazzi reportedly surrounded the couple’s home and tried to take pictures of them and Archie inside with long range lenses.

Archie and Lilibet are largely estranged from King Charles III

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Even though Prince Archie spent some of his childhood in the U.K., King Charles III has only seen him a few times, according to reports. Princess Lilibet, on the other hand, has only seen her grandfather once. Charles’ relationship with Prince Harry might be fraught, but it’s said that the monarch adores his youngest grandchildren and was “delighted” when Archie was born. Princess Lilibet first got to meet her grandfather in person in 2022 when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended some of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. “He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing,” a source told the Mirror.

These days, however, Charles only gets to see his grandchildren over FaceTime. “The antipathy between Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and the royal family has created a deep divide that makes normal family relationships so fraught as to be almost impossible,” royal commentator Michael Cole told the Daily Mail. He added that Harry’s actions since he left the monarchy have only contributed to the family divide, and as a result, the divide his children now experience between them and their extended family in the U.K. Cole also criticized the Sussexes for failing to baptize Lilibet in the U.K. when they visited for the Platinum Jubilee. Instead, the princess was baptized in the U.S., with none of the royals present.

Archie and Lilibet never knew Princess Diana

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Princess Diana’s tragic death continues to echo throughout the monarchy to this day, and ever since Prince Harry and Prince William welcomed children of their own, one can’t help but imagine what a lovely grandmother Diana would have been. Just like their cousins Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte won’t ever know the People’s Princess, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will also grow up simply hearing stories about their late grandmother.

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In Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” the couple noted that Diana is very much a part of their children’s lives. A photograph of the late princess hung in the nursery at the time, and in one scene, Meghan can be seen talking to Archie about his grandmother while looking at the photograph. “Who’s that? Grandma? Yeah. It’s your Grandma Diana,” Meghan can be heard saying to baby Archie.

Aside from barely seeing their grandfather King Charles III, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet also have no contact with their grandfather on their mother’s side, Thomas Markle. Meghan Markle’s relationship with her father disintegrated completely after he staged photos for the paparazzi in the lead-up to Meghan and Harry’s wedding and then failed to show up to escort Meghan down the aisle on the big day. After a personal letter sent to Thomas was leaked to the press, Meghan broke all contact with him. And yes, Meghan’s father has admitted that he was the one who leaked the letter to the press. Le gasp!

Needless to say, Archie and Lilibet have, as far as we know, never met Thomas Markle, and neither has Prince Harry. Thomas doesn’t appear to understand why he’s been denied meeting his grandchildren, telling “Good Morning Britain” that he was very upset about the whole affair. “This is a cruel thing to do to a grandparent…To deny the right to see their grandchild,” he said. He also accused Meghan of changing and exerting her influence on Harry. Thomas told the outlet that he wasn’t planning on taking legal action to see Archie and Lilibet because he didn’t want to involve them in so much drama. “I don’t want to involve my grandchildren as pawns in a game they’re not part of,” he said.

Archie and Lilibet barely have contact with the Waleses

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Aside from having very little contact with their grandfathers, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are also pretty much estranged from their cousins in the U.K. Archie barely spent any time with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and it’s not clear whether Lilibet has ever met them. According to some reports, Prince Harry tries to stay in contact with his niece and nephews, with Charlotte apparently sending Harry and her cousins gifts from time to time. “Charlotte will send everyone in the family thoughtful gifts and cards, and at the very least they’ll call as a family to sing happy birthdays and so on,” an insider told Express.

According to royal expert Tom Quinn, Meghan is worried about her children’s non-existent relationship with their cousins. “Meghan loves the idea of having a big happy family and hates it when people describe her childhood and her family as dysfunctional. She’s terrified history is going to repeat itself,” Quinn told the Mirror. He also claimed that one of Meghan’s friends told him that the duchess is concerned about her kids blaming her for their lack of a relationship with their cousins.

Princess Lilibet shares a very special bond with her late great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. Pundits will know that the queen’s childhood nickname had been “Lilibet,” and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s choice of name for their daughter was an ode to the monarch. Because Lilibet was born in the United States, she didn’t get to meet her great-grandmother in person until about a year later when Harry and Meghan visited the U.K. for the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

A source told People that Harry and Meghan introduced the queen to her new great-grandchild in a video call shortly after her birth. “[They] were very excited and couldn’t wait to share that their daughter arrived,” the source claimed. When the queen finally got to meet her youngest great-grandchild in person during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, it made for a tender moment. Harry hinted at this first meeting in a statement he released after the queen’s death, saying that he would always treasure it. “I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between,” Harry wrote (via People).

Archie and Lilibet didn’t get to see their grandmother one last time before she died

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Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet never got to see their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II one last time before her death in September 2022. What’s heartbreaking is that their parents, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, had plans to take them on a trip to the U.K. that September while they paid some of their favorite charities a visit. According to documents obtained by Town & Country, complications with the Sussexes’ security ensued: RAVEC (the Royal and VIP Executive Committee) denied their request for security in the U.K. 

Harry claimed that his U.S. security detail would not be sufficient because they wouldn’t have the necessary jurisdiction on U.K. soil to ensure his family’s protection during their visit. With RAVEC not giving in to his and Meghan’s requests, the couple decided to leave their children at home due to concerns for their safety. It was during the couple’s visit to Britain that Queen Elizabeth died, and Archie and Lilibet never got to see her again.

Archie and Lilibet were exposed to the paparazzi at a young age

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Thanks to the fact that their parents are insanely famous, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have been captured in several paparazzi shots. Poor Archie was just a baby when photographers first snapped photos of him with his mother, Meghan Markle. Photographs were also taken of them when Meghan took him out for a walk in a park while they were living in Vancouver. Archie’s early childhood was fraught with eager paparazzi that went to incredible lengths to take photographs of him and his parents. Meghan and Prince Harry went into great detail about this horrifying time in their Netflix documentary “Harry & Meghan.” Paparazzi tried to film the couple and their baby son from helicopters and boats and followed them by car wherever they went. Some paparazzi even made holes in the security fence that surrounded the couple’s Vancouver residence in order to spy on them. Sheesh.

While Princess Lilibet’s childhood has arguably been a lot less dramatic, the little royal has also been snapped by the paparazzi. Prince Harry was out and about with Lilibet on his hip in Montecito, California, when eagle-eyed photographers spotted the prince and his daughter and snapped away. It’s a little ironic — Harry and Meghan left the U.K. to get away from the hounding press, but some royal reporters think that their two young children would have been better protected from the paparazzi if they still called the palace their home.

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