Meghan Markle Wants Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to Have a Relationship with King Charles

(Image credit: Getty)

published 16 April 2023

The eyes of the world will be on King Charles for his Coronation on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London—but in Montecito, there will be an affair of a different kind: A four-year-old named Prince Archie’s birthday party, with a guest list Page Six is calling “intimate.”

“Alongside her and Prince Harry’s flock of rescue chickens and three dogs, her mom Doria Ragland, Archie’s school chums, and some mommy friends, there may be a few recognizable faces at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Montecito, California, estate—after all, they ‘do have celebrities in their life,’ one source familiar with the family told Page Six,” the outlet reports.

And the publication suggests Harry might even make the party—the outlet reports that Harry is flying commercial, not private, “and may even jump on a flight back to California following the 11 a.m. ceremony—meaning he could arrive home in the early evening, thanks to the eight-hour time difference.” Talk about exhausted!

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“Harry’s going to make every effort to get back in time for Archie’s birthday,” a source says. “It’s going to be an intimate party. It’s not going to be like My Super Sweet 16 or Portia de Rossi’s fiftieth.”

Of the Coronation—which we found out last week that Harry would attend, but Meghan would not—“Even though Meghan is not going, it’s still going to be extremely awkward,” a highly-placed royal insider says. But insiders also say there is definitely progress happening with Harry and father King Charles: “There is now, more than ever, a willingness to try and have a relationship,” a source says.

And Meghan more than anyone seems to want a relationship between Charles and her children, Archie and Princess Lilibet. “Meghan doesn’t want any more rifts,” an insider says. “She wants her children to know their grandfather, Charles, particularly when they are not going to know their other grandfather [Meghan’s long-estranged father, Thomas Markle]. She does hope they will meet and hopes her decision will be seen as an unselfish one, as it was best to keep the attention on His Majesty.”

The source added that Meghan decided to skip the Coronation so as to not stir up drama. “She just really doesn’t want a song and dance, and everything being lived out in the public eye,” the insider says. In the end, the source says, Meghan apparently thought it would be “inauthentic” to attend the ceremony, given the drama from the past.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.