Prince Harry’s unseen photo with Archie at royal hideaway comes as royal family scandals continue
Prince Harry has emerged from his holiday in Canada in an unseen photo with Archie, who had an Aussie surprise to share. It comes after a tumultuous year for the royals.
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Prince Harry has emerged from his holiday in Canada in an unseen photo with Archie, who had an Aussie surprise to share.
It comes after the royal have been hit by a scandalous year.
In a social media video post on the couple’s Sussex Royal account, they posted a video with their highlights of 2019, and one of them included a photo of Archie with his father.
“Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and thanking you for your continued support!,” it stated.
“We’ve loved meeting so many of you from around the world and can’t wait to meet many more of you next year. We hope 2020 brings each of you health and continued happiness.” - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been holidaying in North America over Christmas, where their son was seen wearing a beanie hat, a brown anorak and sheepskin boots gifted to them by the Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
The video was put against the backdrop of Coldplay’s song Clocks, which fans have already started reading into for hidden messages and meanings.
The song includes lyrics: “The lights go out and I can’t be saved, Tides that I tried to swim against, Have brought me down upon my knees, Oh I beg, I beg and plead, singing.”
It’s unclear when the photo was taken, but is definitely from their current trip overseas as a family.
From the Prince Andrew scandal to the public backlash against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, 2019 has been one of the most destabilising years for the royal family in decades.
Even the Queen has acknowledged the House of Windsor’s rough patch, describing 2019 as “quite bumpy” in her annual Christmas Day message.
Here’s a look back at the highs and lows of 2019 for the royal family.
HIGHS
The royal baby
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor lifted the British public’s mood when he arrived at 5.26am local time on May 6, weighing 7 pounds 3 oz (3.26kg).
Prince Harry was beaming when he broke the news a few hours after the birth.
The streets of Windsor were abuzz, with some people sleeping out in the cold for days and nights. Secrecy surrounded the birth, with Meghan Markle actually giving birth at the Portland Hospital in London after going past her reported due date. She broke with tradition and did not pose for a photograph shortly after the birth. Instead she and Harry waited a couple of days to show off their son, when he met his great-grandparents, the Queen and Prince Philip.
Royal biographer Penny Junor said Archie’s birth was a wonderful moment, even if Harry and Meghan were a little too media-shy. “It was a bit of a disappointment they were so secretive with the birth and not allowing any media into the christening,” she said. “But aside from that, it brought great excitement. Babies make everyone happy and the family seems to think it all went well.”
William and Kate wow Pakistan
Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge steadied the ship with their colourful tour of Pakistan in October. The future king and queen showed they will be a calming force on the throne. The Duchess of Cambridge channelled Princess Diana with an aqua blue dress and matching pants. They were very good sports in the hat department.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said that the Cambridges were the shining stars in another wise rough year for the Windsors. “William and Kate are thriving,” he said. “Sending royals is the ultimate projection of Britain’s soft power and the Pakistan tour proved that the Cambridges can be sent to sensitive and difficult places in the world.”
Harry follows Diana’s footsteps in Africa
In one of the most poignant moments of the year, Prince Harry literally walked in the footsteps of his mother whose campaigning led to an international treaty banning landmines signed shortly after her death. Harry was clearly moved as he walked along the street in Huambo, Angola, that had been reclaimed for schools and shops instead of landmines.
Watching him take that walk was tough, with the pressure he was under revealed later on his African tour.
Mr Fitzwilliams said the tour proved that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — at their best — are royal stars capable of great good. “It started out a triumph and showed what a dynamic, charitable duo the Sussexes can be,” he said. “Harry is literally following in Diana’s footsteps and like her is able to harness his connection to celebrities to do good work — we will see more of that next year.”
Prince Charles tours New Zealand
Remember when everyone was begging for the throne to skip Prince Charles? Those days are gone. He was a pillar of stability during the tour as the palace was falling down around his younger brother Prince Andrew in November. He was described as down to earth and funny after his documentary aired on ITV in October.
Ms Junor said the trip was a sign of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall’s growing power in the royal family. “Charles is very keen to slim down the royal family and I think that’s a good thing,” she said. “Charles understands that the problems are coming from the extended family. The core of the monarchy – The Queen, Charles and Camilla, William and Kate – is as strong as ever.”
Charlotte’s first day at school
The young princess was all grown up when she joined her brother Prince George at school at Thomas’s Battersea in south London in September.
She was greeted by head teacher Helen Haslem, who appeared relaxed in the royal company. The Duchess of Cambridge was like any other school mum, while Prince William chimed in: “It’s her first day, she’s very excited.”
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LOWS
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein
Disgraced, dishonoured, discredited. There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe how lowly Prince Andrew is now held in the eyes of the British public following his friendship with dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The billionaire allegedly introduced him to Australian woman Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein to have forced to have sex with the Duke of York.
Prince Andrew has vehemently denied her claims and insists he has never met his accuser. But only 6 per cent of Brits believed the version of events he offered up in his trainwreck interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis.
Mr Fitzwilliams said the interview was “cataclysmic” for the royals. “There are still a lot of questions for Prince Andrew, possible legal proceedings,” he said. “And be being made to stand down from his royal duties, there are now 300 plus charities looking for a new patron.”
Harry and Meghan’s war with everyone
So much goodwill was flushed down the toilet when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose to launch legal action against the Mail on Sunday at the end of their tour of southern Africa. Prince Harry said the “painful” impact of intrusive media coverage had driven the couple to take action.
They could have chosen better timing because it tarnished the good work they had done promoting women’s rights and environmental causes. The document had been filed for almost a week and nobody had noticed them.
Prince Harry’s admission that he and Prince William were “on different paths” in a documentary with ITV’s Tom Bradby was a masterclass in faint praise and confirmed the months of reports of a rift. Ms Junor said the press wars and climate preaching had blighted what should have been a good year for new parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. “I feel sorry for Prince Harry because he seems lost at the moment,” she said, “He seems to be getting very bad advice … Meghan is a much stronger character than he is.”
Prince Philip’s car crash
Prince Philip’s Land Rover flipped as he entered a main road from a driveway in January. A woman driving a Kia and her passenger were taken to hospital but were released. There were reports a baby was inside the Kia. It took a public backlash to get the 97-year-old to apologise and he was seen two days after the incident driving again without a seatbelt.
The seatbelt alarms on their posh cars had been disabled to make it easier to drive. Mr Fitzwilliams said the car crash was an ominous sign of the rotten royal year which followed. “The Duke of Edinburgh became the Duke of Hazard for a moment,” he said. “And to be seen days later driving without a seatbelt or a protection officer was not ideal. It was a sign of his indomitable spirit to put it mildly.” He ended up giving up driving three weeks after the crash.
The Queen dragged into politics
The first rule of fight club is that no-one talks about fight club. The same applies to the weekly meeting that the Queen has with the Prime Minister. Former British PM David Cameron controversially leaked part of his chats with the Queen around the launch of his new book For The Record. The Queen was not amused.
Ms Junor said Mr Cameron’s gaffe was a sign of how powerful the Queen really is. “She’s not just a celebrity. She’s an incredibly important and powerful part of the construction of Britain,” she said. “I think the Queen might wield a lot of political power in those prime ministerial audiences.”
The Crown: Fact or Fiction?
Netflix had turned the royal family’s life into a soap opera, well a little more so than in real life, according to the experts. They pushed the boundaries in the latest series, which – spoiler alert – suggests the Queen had an affair.
This has been rejected. And many royal watchers have scoffed at the suggestion that the late Queen Mother plotted to separate a young Charles and Camilla.
Originally published as Prince Harry’s unseen photo with Archie at royal hideaway comes as royal family scandals continue
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