These royals are receiving low marks this holiday season.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have officially unveiled their 2023 holiday card. The couple spread their message of cheer via an email on Friday sent from the Archwell organization.
“On behalf of the office of Prince Harry & Meghan[,] the Duke and Duchess of Sussex[,] Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundation[,] we wish you a very happy holiday season,” the card reads. “Thanks for all the support in 2023!”
The forest green card, which links back to Meghan and Harry’s annual Archewell Foundation impact report, features a short one-minute video, set to the song “Happy Place” by Saint Phnx, highlighting some of the organization’s charitable work and important causes from the past year.
“We believe in the power of community building as a potent and transformative solution for mental wellness, the cornerstone of our collective wellbeing,” the Archewell Foundation’s mission statement, which accompanies the card, reads. “This belief shapes everything we do, as we reach communities locally and globally to inspire positive change through lasting solutions. Through these stories of impact, we can find inspiration. And in these moments, we find joy.”
The card itself features an image of the duke, 39, and Duchess of Sussex, 42, looking quite glamorous from the closing ceremony of the 2023 Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, but many fans were quick to criticize the couple for not including their children Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
“No children, no family, no friends,” quipped @MeghansMole on a post of the card shared by Victoria Ward, Deputy Royal Editor at the Daily Telegraph on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The biggest losers of 2023.”
“Is this their Christmas card?” asked Royal Love. “Where the hell are the kids?”
“What happened to family Christmas greetings?” Anna Emanon demanded. “I guess that’s the office one but do they have a personal one??”
A fourth user added sarcastically, “Ahhh, I love how they’ve made it all about family and the season of goodwill to all men rather than making it all about themselves, so humble!”
However, this isn’t the first time the couple has chosen to release a holiday card without their children.
In 2022, the couple’s card featured a black-and-white photo of themselves attending the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award Gala in New York City.
“Wishing you a joyful holiday season,” the 2022 card read. “From our family to yours, and on behalf of our teams at The Archewell Foundation, Archewell Audio, and Archewell Productions, we wish you health, peace, and a very happy new year.”
In 2021, Meghan and Harry did make the holiday card a family affair, using the occasion to introduce their daughter Lili to the world after she was born in June 2021.
The image taken by their wedding photographer Alexi Lubomirski was shot at their home in Santa Barbara, Calif., and pictured the couple looking low-key while sitting on the floor wearing jeans.
Harry held Archie in his arms in the image. At the same time, Meghan picked Lili up into the air.
The message on the card read, “This year, 2021, we welcomed our daughter, Lilibet, to the world. Archie made us a ‘Mama’ and a ‘Papa,’ and Lili made us a family. As we look forward to 2022, we have made donations on your behalf to several organizations that honor and protect families – from those being relocated from Afghanistan, to American families in need of paid parental leave.”
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