He’s one of the world’s most famous people, and he’s only six!
Ever since his birth on the 6th of May, 2019, Prince Archie has been in the spotlight thanks to his famous parents and royal bloodline.
As the eldest child of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archie is currently sixth in line to the British throne.
And whilst it is unlikely that he will ever be crowned King, his parents are preparing him for a life in the public eye by keeping him out of it, at least until he is old enough to opt in.
Speaking with US publication The Cut, Meghan said her concerns about paparazzi following her children weren’t from a privacy-crazed perspective, but from that of a protective mother.
“That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child.”
Two months after his birth, Prince Archie was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the private chapel at Windsor Castle.
His parents ruffled feathers when it was revealed that the occasion would be kept private, and information, including the names of godparents, would not become public knowledge.
He wore the frilly cream royal christening gown that has been used for all royal infants born since 2008.
For just under a year, whilst his parents were still classed as official working royals, a baby Archie accompanied them on numerous engagements, including overseas to South Africa, where he even met anti-apartheid Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
But after Mum and Dad took a step back from the royal family in March 2020, and moved to the US, new photos of the young royal became less and less, his parents regaining a sense of control over their son’s privacy for the first time since he was born.
In 2020 there were only two glimpses shared with the public of the royal cutie – the first being on his birthday in May when his parents shared a cute video from story time, and the second being in his family’s Christmas card.
Then in 2021, several more snaps were shared, including some footage of the prince at home in California with his parents that was aired as part of the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview – Oprah with Meghan and Harry.
In the home footage, a delighted Archie dashes between his mother and father as he explores the shoreline with a stick in hand – a touching moment of unbridled joy for the family of three.
“This year has been crazy for everybody, but to have outdoor space where I can go for walks with Archie and we go for walks as a family and with the dogs or have a hike or go down to the beach which is so close,” Harry said of the grounding impact his son had had on him and their lowkey lifestyle in Santa Barbara.
“The highlight for me is sticking him on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on these bike rides, which is something I was never able to do when I was young,” he continued.
“I can see him on the back and he’s got his arms out and he’s going ‘Woooo!’ Chatting, chatting, chatting, and he’s going, ‘palm tree! house!’ and all this stuff,” he added, of the sweet way he bonds with his son.
Then, in the same year, in the docuseries The Me You Can’t See (also with Oprah), a beautiful clip of Archie playing in a backyard tree swing was shown.
Royal watchers were also given another close-up glimpse of Archie in March 2021, when Meghan’s long-time close friend, Silver Tree, who is a director, shared a gorgeous series of images along with a stirring caption as she defended Meghan in the wake of the Oprah interview.
In the candid, personal images from Silver Tree, one included little Archie – fans immediately flocked to the picture in awe of how much he had grown.
Archie’s final appearance for the year was in his family’s annual Christmas card, which was also the first public image of his sister Lilibet to be released.
Around the same time, his parents revealed that they almost gave Archie a much more traditional royal name – Harrison -, but settled on Archie and used Harrison as a middle name instead.
“Harry and Meghan couldn’t decide between Archie and Harrison for the first name,” a mother who spoke with Meghan at the 2022 Invictus Games told PA.
Then, in 2022, a whole slew of new footage and images of Archie were released as part of the six-part Harry & Meghan documentary series that started airing on December 8th, 2022.
In the first volume of the documentary, footage of the family celebrating Archie’s first birthday was shown, much to the surprise and delight of royal watchers across the world.
Archie has spent the majority of his life in the United States, and in the “intimate” documentary, he was seen holding an American flag while being cradled in his mother’s arms in 2022.
Curiously, in the footage, Archie was heard speaking in an American accent.
Locals also attending the same Fourth of July event took sneaky snaps of Archie and his parents whilst they were out and about (presumably to see a parade), sharing them on social media.
Sadly, Archie’s “mixed-race” parents were also a huge topic for conversation in the documentary.
In the documentary, the father of two said: “My son, my daughter, my child are mixed race and I’m really proud of that,” Harry said.
“When my kids grow up and they look back at this moment and they turn to me, they say, ‘What did you do in this moment?’ I want to be able to give them an answer.”
In the same month, a leaked image was posted to Twitter, showing Archie sitting on his mother’s lap with his maternal grandmother Doria Ragland nearby.
The trio was seated for a web call with several women who specialised in social impact, feminism, and political strategy, according to The Sun.
After a long delay in new images, Meghan and Harry released a rare new image of their son in December 2024 as part of their Christmas card.
In it, Archie was seen running into the open arms of his mother, while his younger sister Lilibet ran to embrace their father, their family dogs playing around them.
In March 2025, a new image of the young royal was shared by his mother on the Instagram account of her lifestyle business, As Ever.
In it, he was pictured hugging Meghan’s leg, with his sister Lilibet in her arms as they presumably picked strawberries in the backyard of their family home in Montecito, California.
The photo was captioned “Every day is a love story ?️.”
Only a few weeks later, the Duchess of Sussex shared yet another series of photos of her son on social media. One featured the back of his head, while the other featured a beautiful flower positioned strategically in front of his face (presumably to protect his privacy).
The post was simply captioned: “Sunday kind of love…with my little loves.”
Then, in early May, two days after Prince Harry lost his second appeal to have taxpayer-funded security for he and his family when in the UK, and two days prior to Prince Archie’s sixth birthday, yet another new photo (right) of Prince Archie was released.
While no caption was shared with the image, which depicted the young royal walking through the garden of his Montecito home with his father and younger sister, many royal watchers have speculated that it pays homage to a photo featured in the couple’s Netflix series (left).
In the family photo, Harry and Meghan, and their two children are seen walking through the grounds of their former UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, during the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in May 2022. Notably, this was Princess Lilibet’s first and only visit to the UK.
On Archie’s sixth birthday, his proud mother shared yet another new snap of her fast-growing boy, who was pictured standing on a balcony overlooking the sun setting over the ocean.
“Our son. Our sun. Happy 6th birthday to Archie! Thank you for all of the love, prayers, and warm wishes for our sweet boy. He’s six! Where did the time go?” she captioned the post.
“And for all of you who came to celebrate with us at his party last weekend, thank you for making his birthday so incredibly special, she continued.
Shortly after his birthday, the Duchess of Sussex made a Mother’s Day tribute to her daughter and son, with another sweet photo of the three of them together.
“Happy Mother’s Day! Cheers to juggling it all with joy!” she wrote on Instagram.
“And to these two gems – who still attempt to climb “mama mountain”, smother me with kisses, and make every day the most memorable adventure….being your mom is the greatest privilege of my life ❤️ I, too, ‘love you more than all the stars in all the sky, all the raindrops, and all the salt on all the french fries in all the world’.”
As for now, no further images or footage of Prince Archie have been released.
It was revealed in February 2024, however, that Archie’s last name was changed from Mountbatten-Windsor to Sussex, alongside his sister Princess Lilibet.
Following the coronation of their grandfather, the children were awarded the titles of Prince and Princess of Sussex, the surname change thus reflecting that and giving them the same last names as their parents.
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