Baby Princess Lilibet was the spitting image of her mother Meghan Markle at the same age – as seen in shot Duchess used for her last ever Father’s Day tribute to estranged dad
A photo shared by Meghan Markle of her daughter Princess Lilibet as a baby bears a striking resemblance to one of herself at the same age.
Over the weekend, the Duchess of Sussex shared a sweet Father’s Day tribute to her husband Prince Harry, featuring numerous snapshots of their children Prince Archie, six, and Lili, four.
The post made for the most intimate glimpse into their family life in Montecito, California yet – as Meghan shared a rare look at her children’s faces.
In one clip, a baby Lilibet could be seen laying on Prince Harry’s chest while fast asleep, wearing a tiny knitted hat and swaddled in a blanket.
As the newborn slept, Harry could be seen gently stroking her tiny hand, in footage filmed by Meghan.
The rare glimpse at Lili’s face – previously shown in the Sussexes’s bombshell Netflix documentary in 2022 – made for a striking resemblance to an old image of Meghan at the same age.
In 2016, Meghan had shared a rare image of herself as a baby in her final Father’s Day tribute to her dad, Thomas Markle, from whom she is now estranged.
In the image, Meghan looked almost identical to her daughter, and also lay sweetly on Thomas’s chest.
A photo shared by Meghan Markle of her daughter Princess Lilibet as a baby (pictured) bears a striking resemblance to a picture of herself at the same age
Lilibet looked almost identical to an image Meghan had previously shared of herself as a baby, in a tribute to her father, Thomas Markle (pictured)
She had shared the post to her original Instagram account, which she later deleted upon joining the royal family following her wedding to Harry in 2018.
In what makes for another parallel, Meghan had penned a thoughtful caption to her father – in her last ever Father’s Day post before their fallout.
She wrote: ‘Happy Father’s Day, daddy. I’m still your buckaroo, and to this day your hugs are the very best in the whole wide world.
‘Thanks for my work ethic, my love of Busby Berkeley films and club sandwiches, for teaching me the importance of handwritten thank you notes, and for giving me that signature Markle nose. I love you xo – Bean.’
Fans were quick to note how similar Lili looked to both her parents, with one Reddit user gushing previously: ‘They look like copy/paste! They are just adorable!’
Lilibet and Archie have long been compared to their father Prince Harry, and share his distinctive red hair.
In a previous Father’s Day post which she shared on her now defunct lifestyle blog The Tig in 2014, Meghan shared further happy memories from time spent with her father.
She recalled a class quiz from her 7th grade English class, asking her to check her ethnicity by checking a box.
The last official portrait of Princess Lilibet’s face was taken on her first birthday in June 2022
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet in December 2021
Lilibet and Archie have long been compared to their father Prince Harry, and share his distinctive red hair
Meghan said the options read as follows: ‘White. Black. Hispanic. Asian/Pacific Islander’.
She wrote: ‘It was some sort of mandatory census that had to be completed before an exam, and there I was (my curly hair, my freckled face, my pale skin, my mixed race) looking down at those boxes, not wanting to mess up, but not knowing what to do. Not knowing which box I fit into.’
After telling her father what had happened – and after being told by a teacher to just ‘choose one’ – she was told words ‘that will stay with me forever’.
Meghan said Thomas had advised her to ‘draw your own box’, reflecting that it was ‘one of those parenting moments that no guidebook could ever prep you for’.
She told another anecdote, where her father had taken apart two Barbie doll sets, as you ‘could only buy a white Barbie or a black one’, and made a ‘custom’ one to bring home instead.
In the gushing tribute, Meghan recalled how her father had even helped her to turn the bathroom into a darkroom when she was 12 and hoped to become a photographer.
‘And that, right there, is the point: my dad taught me to find my light. And he taught me to always make my own box,’ she said.
She wrote: ‘To my dad – my thoughtful, inspiring, hardworking Daddy – Happy Father’s Day. “If I had all the water in the world, I’d give all the water to you… (You won’t get that quote, but he will, And for Father’s Day, that’s all that matters).’
Meghan is no longer on speaking terms with her father, Thomas Markle (pictured together previously)
In March, Thomas Markle even gave a withering review of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan
Thomas Markle has been estranged from his daughter ever since he didn’t attend her May 2018 wedding to Harry.
According to an interview with the Mail in March, she was said to have accused him of failing to get into a car she sent for him – even though he was in hospital at the time after suffering two heart attacks on the eve of the wedding.
In the same interview, he even gave a withering verdict of her show With Love, Meghan, admitting that though he had not yet watched the whole thing, he believed his daughter was ‘trying so hard to stay in the limelight’ after viewing a ‘ton of clips’ online.
Mr Markle said he last saw his daughter in person over a Thanksgiving meal in 2017 when Meghan was engaged to Prince Harry.
The picture of baby Lili being cuddled by Meghan was also shown in the Sussexes’ bombshell Netflix documentary, released in December 2022.
The full video showed Lili lying on Prince Harry’s chest fast asleep as he stroked her face, wearing a tiny knitted hat and swaddled in a blanket.
When she began crying, Meghan was quick to reassure her in hushed tones, saying: ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Here we go. You ready to eat? Let’s have some milk. Hi Lili.’
Meghan has since rejoined Instagram, launching her new account @meghan early in the new year – ahead of projects including her Netflix cookery series, Confessions Of A Female Founder podcast and As Ever lifestyle products.
Thomas Markle has been estranged from his daughter ever since he didn’t attend her May 2018 wedding to Harry (pictured)
She captioned her clip in tribute to Harry, which was accompanied by Jason Mraz’s Have It All playing in the background, ‘The best. Happy Father’s Day to our favourite guy.’
Meghan followed the clip with a photograph of Harry and Lilibet walking barefoot through sun-drenched sand as they held each other’s hands.
Meghan didn’t refrain from sharing private moments from what appears to be inside their Montecito-based home either, and added a clip of Harry dancing around their kitchen with little Archie in his hands.
Seconds later, another clip came of Archie sat in a car seat while spreading bubbles from a Mickey Mouse toy.
The Sussex children are fans of all things Disney, as revealed through their recent trip to Disneyland.
Next in the Instagram post, the As Ever founder once again shared a clip of Harry and Lilibet spending quality time together at the beach, but this time the father-daughter duo played at the shore.
Enjoying Californian nature appears to be a big part of Harry’s life abroad, and the next clip showed him basking in the sunlight while playing with Lilibet when she was just a few months old.
Meghan then moved onto a clip of Archie climbing into a bus before adding another moment of Harry cuddling a young Lilibet while she donned a pair of pink protective headphones.
She then moved to a more recent clip of Harry taking Archie to horse stables, an activity also loved by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. In the sweet clip, Harry and his young son laughed as they fed a carrot to a horse.
Harry was back in nature in the next clip, but this time holding his son as they admired a flowing waterfall. Dressed in denim shorts and white t-shirt, the father-of-two playfully dipped his son towards the water before pulling him away.
Harry and his son Archie playfully danced around their kitchen in another clip shared by Meghan on Sunday
Meghan also added a clip of Archie playing with a Minnie Mouse bubble machine while sat in the car
An adorable moment from the Father’s Day post showed Harry and his newborn child smiling at each other
In another clip, Archie, dressed in casual attire, was seen playing as he climbed onto a bus with red interiors
Harry appears to be every inch the doting father – and in another video, he snuggled his children while sat on a swing
Archie and Lilibet sprinted across golden sands as their parents walked behind in another clip shared on Sunday
In another sweet moment, Lilbiet donned pink protective headphones as she slept in her father’s hands
Next, Meghan added a clip of Harry spending quality time with both of his children as they snuggled while on a swing.
Then came an adorable clip of Harry and Archie in stitches while enjoying a bedtime story.
The father and son sat on a sofa in presumably Archie’s bedroom, which featured mocha-coloured walls with three art prints in white frames.
Harry was back enjoying nature with Lilibet in the next clip. The father crouched down as he showed his excited daughter, who was dressed in jeans and a cute bobble hat, the animals at a petting zoo.
The father-of-two put on a casual display in a blue polo shirt and New Balance trainers as he enjoyed the day out with his youngest child.
In the next clip, Lilibet had ditched her blue jeans for a cute pink princess dress. She styled her flowing hair into ringlets and enjoyed a stroll outside while eating an apple.
Then came a clip of the family enjoying time at a stunning, secluded beach, during a holiday.
In April, People Magazine reported that Harry and Meghan whisked their children away on a family holiday.
Meghan celebrated her recent business ventures, including her Netflix cookery show, launch of her As Ever products, and recent podcast – with a family trip away, which may have been the one that featured in the clip.
Lilibet looked adorable in a pink, flowing dress while walking outside and eating an apple with her mother
The Duke laid on the grass in the Californian sunshine as he watched his eldest child run around
Harry appears to adore Californian nature – and was recorded playing in the sun with his child in the post
Elsewhere, Harry, dressed in shorts and New Balance trainers, enjoyed a trip out to a petting farm with Lilibet
The father-of-two held his young son in his arms while attempting to feed a horse a carrot in another moment
Meghan shared footage of her husband enjoying a stroll along the beach with his family while on holiday
The mother-of-two concluded her Instagram post by showing her family celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday
The post marks a major shift from Meghan’s previous stance of sharing footage of her children online.
In April, The Sun’s Royal Editor, Matt Wilkinson, claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have very different views when it comes to sharing photographs of their children with the public during Hello! magazine’s Right Royal podcast.
Also appearing on the episode were the podcast hosts Emmy Griffiths and Andrea Caamano, as well as HELLO!’s royal editor, Emily Nash.
Speaking during the podcast, Wilkinson shared his thoughts that Harry might not be overjoyed at the thought of having his children’s faces display on social media.
‘My understanding of this is that, up to a certain stage, Harry would much rather his children were not seen,’ Wilkinson said.
He added, ‘Whereas Meghan grew up in California, she once said she would like to have a more California style lifestyle, take them down the beach, go out, do stuff.’
The Sun’s Royal Editor added regarding Meghan’s perspective on sharing her children online, ‘She doesn’t want to hide them away.’
