An estranged grandfather? No contact with their cousins? A grandma they'll never meet? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Archie and Lilibet, might be royal, but they've also been through a lot.
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00:00An estranged grandfather?
00:02No contact with their cousins?
00:04A grandma they'll never meet?
00:06Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Archie and Lilibet, might be royal, but they've
00:10also been through a lot.
00:13After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the royal family, they sat down for a bombshell
00:17interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they discussed life behind the palace walls.
00:21In the 2021 interview, the couple made some shocking claims.
00:25One thing that really raised viewers' eyebrows was Meghan's allegation that some royal family
00:29members had made some negative comments about Prince Archie's skin color.
00:33"...and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
00:38Meghan also seemed to insinuate that, because Archie is biracial, the palace denied him
00:43a title.
00:44"...so we have in tandem the conversation of, he won't be given security, he's not gonna
00:49be given a title."
00:50When asked to name who made the comments about Archie's skin color, neither Harry nor Meghan
00:54was forthcoming, saying it would cause a lot of damage.
00:58Harry did, however, tell Winfrey that neither Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip made
01:02the aforementioned remarks about Archie's skin color.
01:05It's worth noting that Archie did receive a royal title after King Charles III ascended
01:10the throne.
01:11Prince Archie's first few years were anything but easy.
01:14Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went through an incredibly stressful time before and after
01:18Archie's birth.
01:19During the Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan shared that she had suicidal thoughts while
01:23she was pregnant with Archie, but that she wasn't allowed to get the help she needed.
01:27"...and I just didn't, I just didn't want to be alive anymore."
01:31When Archie was still a baby, Meghan and Harry embarked on a royal tour.
01:34While the family was in South Africa, a heater in Archie's room caught fire.
01:38Luckily, he was downstairs with his nanny at the time.
01:41Meghan was understandably shaken, but revealed on the first episode of her Archetypes podcast
01:46that she had to simply continue with royal engagements as if nothing happened.
01:50After the Sussexes left the royal family behind, Meghan and Harry stayed in Vancouver for a
01:54short while.
01:55However, it became clear rather quickly that they would not catch a break across the pond.
01:59Shortly after relocating, Meghan was followed by a photographer while she was out at a park
02:03with Archie.
02:04Paparazzi reportedly surrounded the couple's home, and tried to take pictures of them and
02:08Archie inside with long-range lenses.
02:11Even though Archie spent some of his childhood in the U.K., King Charles has reportedly only
02:15seen him a few times.
02:17Lilibet, on the other hand, has only seen her grandfather once.
02:21Charles' relationship with Prince Harry might be fraught, but it's said that the monarch
02:24adores his youngest grandchildren and was delighted when Archie was born.
02:28Lilibet first got to meet her grandfather in person in 2022, when Prince Harry and Meghan
02:32Markle attended some of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
02:37These days, however, Charles only gets to see his grandchildren over FaceTime.
02:41Royal commentator Michael Cole told the Daily Mail,
02:43"[The antipathy between Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and the royal family has created
02:47a deep divide that makes normal family relationships so fraught as to be almost impossible."
02:52He added that Harry's actions since he left the monarchy have only contributed to the
02:56family divide and, as a result, the divide his children now experience between them and
03:01their extended family in the U.K.
03:02Cole also criticized the Sussexes for failing to baptize Lilibet in the U.K. when they visited
03:07for the Platinum Jubilee.
03:09Instead, the princess was baptized in the U.S., with none of the royals present.
03:13Royal experts have many opinions on how Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet may or may not
03:17feel about their estrangement from the royal family when they're older.
03:21Former royal reporter Jenny Bond told OK! that Archie and Lilibet will eventually be
03:25curious about their family history, and it might be a little jarring for them to realize
03:29what they could have been a part of.
03:31She said in the interview,
03:32"[When your heritage is one of the most famous families in the world, it will undoubtedly
03:35seem rather odd and perhaps sad that you hardly know or remember them.]
03:40Princess Diana's tragic death continues to echo throughout the monarchy to this day,
03:44and ever since Prince Harry and Prince William welcomed children of their own, one can't
03:48help but imagine what a lovely grandmother Diana would have been.
03:51Archie and Lilibet will also grow up simply hearing stories about their late grandmother.
03:55In Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, the couple noted that Diana is
04:00very much a part of their children's lives.
04:02A photograph of the late princess hung in the nursery at the time.
04:05"'That's your grandma Diana.'"
04:08Aside from barely seeing their grandfather King Charles, Archie and Lilibet also have
04:13no contact with their maternal grandfather, Thomas Markle.
04:16Meghan Markle's relationship with her father disintegrated completely after he staged photos
04:21for the paparazzi in the lead-up to Meghan and Harry's wedding and then failed to show
04:25up to escort Meghan down the aisle on the big day.
04:28After a personal letter sent to Thomas was leaked to the press, Meghan broke all contact
04:32with him.
04:33And yes, Meghan's father has admitted that he was the one who leaked the letter to the
04:37press.
04:38Archie and Lilibet have, as far as we know, never met Thomas Markle, and neither has Prince
04:42Harry.
04:43Thomas doesn't appear to understand why he's been denied meeting his grandchildren, telling
04:47Good Morning Britain that he was very upset about the whole affair.
04:50"'This is a cruel thing to do to a grandfather.'"
04:54He also accused Meghan of changing and exerting her influence on Harry.
04:58Thomas told the outlet that he wasn't planning on taking legal action to see Archie and Lilibet
05:02because he didn't want to involve them in so much drama.
05:05"'I don't want to involve my grandchildren as pawns in a game.'"
05:10In addition to their grandfathers, Archie and Lilibet are also pretty much estranged
05:15from their cousins in the U.K.
05:16Archie barely spent any time with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and
05:20it's not clear whether Lilibet has ever met them.
05:23According to some reports, Prince Harry tries to stay in contact with his niece and nephews,
05:27with Charlotte apparently sending Harry and her cousins gifts from time to time.
05:31According to royal expert Tom Quinn, Meghan is worried about her children's non-existent
05:35relationship with their cousins.
05:37Quinn told The Mirror,
05:38"'Meghan loves the idea of having a big happy family and hates it when people describe her
05:42childhood and her family as dysfunctional.
05:45She's terrified history is going to repeat itself.'"
05:47He also claimed that one of Meghan's friends told him that the duchess is concerned about
05:52her kids blaming her for their lack of a relationship with their cousins.
05:56Lilibet shares a very special bond with her late great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
06:00Pundits will know that the queen's childhood nickname had been Lilibet, and Prince Harry
06:04and Meghan's choice of name for their daughter was an ode to the monarch.
06:08Because Lilibet was born in the United States, she didn't get to meet her great-grandmother
06:12in person until about a year later when Harry and Meghan visited the UK for the queen's
06:16Platinum Jubilee.
06:17A source told People that Harry and Meghan introduced the queen to her new great-grandchild
06:21in a video call shortly after her birth.
06:23When the queen finally got to meet her youngest great-grandchild in person during the Platinum
06:27Jubilee celebrations, it made for a tender moment.
06:30Harry hinted at this first meeting in a statement he released after the queen's death, saying
06:34that he would always treasure it, writing,
06:36"...I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between."
06:41Thanks to the fact that their parents are insanely famous, Archie and Lilibet have been
06:45captured in several paparazzi shots.
06:47Poor Archie was just a baby when photographers first snapped photos of him with his mother,
06:51Meghan Markle.
06:52Archie's early childhood was fraught with eager paparazzi that went to incredible lengths
06:56to take photographs of him and his parents.
06:59Meghan and Prince Harry went into great detail about this horrifying time in their Netflix
07:03documentary Harry and Meghan.
07:05Paparazzi tried to film the couple and their baby son from helicopters and boats and followed
07:09them by car wherever they went.
07:11Some paparazzi even made holes in the security fence that surrounded the couple's Vancouver
07:15residence in order to spy on them.
07:17While Lilibet's childhood has arguably been a lot less dramatic, the little royal has
07:21also been snapped by the paparazzi.
07:23Prince Harry was out and about with Lilibet on his hip in Montecito, California, when
07:27eagle-eyed photographers spotted the prince and his daughter and snapped away.
07:31They just wanted to be free.
07:33They wanted to be free to love and be happy."
07:35King Charles III's coronation was a historic moment, but it's an event Archie and Lilibet
07:40missed out on, even though they were invited.
07:42Speculation was rife whether or not the king would even extend an invitation to his estranged
07:47son and his family.
07:48Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did indeed receive an invite, but only Harry accepted.
07:53The palace revealed this information in a statement saying that, while Harry would be
07:56in attendance at the coronation ceremony, Meghan would be staying behind in California
08:00with their two children.
08:02Royal commentator Victoria Murphy told ABC News,
08:05"[Meghan not coming can absolutely be interpreted as a sign that not all is resolved between
08:09the Sussexes and the royal family.
08:11There is kind of a partial endorsement from the Sussexes with Harry going."
08:14Charles' coronation coincided with Archie's fourth birthday.
08:18While this likely played a part in Meghan and Harry's decision to keep the children
08:21at home, co-host of the royally-obsessed podcast Rachel Bowie told USA Today that Meghan probably
08:26forfeited the event out of concern for the media scrutiny that would surely have followed
08:31her and the children's visit.
08:32Bowie said,
08:33"[The royals can choose the coronation date, but Archie can't choose his birthday.
08:37From the parent perspective, which Meghan makes very clear, that's one of her key roles
08:41and the thing that she values most.
08:43That's something that she likely doesn't want to miss."
08:45"...I just want them to be happy."