Meghan Markle, Lilibet, Camilla Holmstroem and her daughter
(Picture: Misan Harriman @misanharriman)The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their second official photograph of their daughter Lilibet yesterday to mark her first birthday.
The one-year-old appears to be the spitting image of her father when he was the same age, with a shock of strawberry blonde hair. The intimate portrait of Prince Harry’s youngest child was taken at her first birthday party at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
Saturday marked a number of firsts for Lilibet Diana — who was born at Santa Barbara Cottage hospital on 4 June 202 — as the Sussexes’ Jubilee visit was Lili’s first visit to her father’s native UK. In the photograph taken by photographer and family friend Misan Harriman, she is pictured wearing a baby blue check romper from the Cambridge’s favourite children’s clothing brand Amaia with a with a white bow in her hair.
As rumoured, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle threw an “intimate” outdoor picnic to celebrate their daughter’s first birthday at the home that they still lease and was couple’s permanent address before their move to California in February 2020. The cottage, where the Sussexes spent the Jubilee weekend, is temporarily being rented from the couple by Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie and her Jack Brooksbank and baby son August.
The birthday soiree took place on Saturday afternoon in the garden of the bucolic cottage, which sits on the grounds of Windsor castle. A source told the The Sun newspaper that Harry and Meghan wanted the day to be a casual affair and encouraged family members and friends to pop in throughout the day.
Twitter royal commentator and co-author of Finding Freedom Omid Scobie referred to the party as an “intimate backyard picnic” complete with face painting and revealed that expert baker Claire Ptak had been enlisted to create a bespoke birthday cake.
Ptak, who owns the east-London haunt Violet Cakes, also baked Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake, which was a four-tier triumph of lemon and elderflower sponge. Ptak, who often shares images of her creations to her Instagram account uploaded a white-frosted, three-tier creation, adorned with white roses a couple of days ago, prompting users to speculate whether this was the Lilibet’s birthday cake.
Lilibet’s cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, were not in attendance. Instead they were touring the UK with their parents, William and Kate, and later attended the Platinum Party at the Palace in the evening. But Lilibet’s second cousins, Mike Tindall and Zara’s children Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Lucas, one were present as were Savannah, 11, and Isla, 10, daughters of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly.
Other guests included photographer and Chair of the Southbank centre Misan Harriman and his wife and children. Harriman, who took the portrait of Lilibet, shared the image on social media with the caption: “It was such a privilege to celebrate the first birthday of Lilibet with my family and hers! Joy and face painting all around.”
Harry’s old friends, Charlie Van Straubenzee, who’s godfather to three-year-old Archie, and his brother Tom, also made an appearance at the picnic. Although Lilibet’s grandfather Prince Charles was not present it is thought that he met his youngest grandchild for the first time on Friday along with the Queen, who’s childhood nickname Lilibet is the baby’s namesake.
The Queen did not attend the Platinum Party at the Palace with her eldest son Charles, who dedicated a moving speech to her in which he referred to her as “mummy”, due to mobility issues. It is understood that Her Majesty watched the evening concert, that was headlined by Diana Ross and Queen, from her living room in Windsor Castle alongside the Sussexes, who also eschewed the event.
Harry and Meghan were pictured arriving back on their private jet to Santa Barbara airport on Sunday afternoon, having jetted back before the Jubilee festivities were over. Airport staff and the couple’s team were pictured carrying presents including a wooden swing seat, reminiscent of the one gifted to the Cambridges by Prince Charles, prompting speculation that it could have been a Lilibet’s birthday gift from the Prince of Wales.
The Sussexes seem to have caught up with friends in amongst the weekend’s Jubilee and birthday celebrations in their flyby visit. Meghan’s hairdresser George Northwood, who recently flew to the Netherlands to coif the duchess’s hair for the Invictus games, posted an Instagram photo of Meghan at the Thanksgiving Service on Friday, suggesting he had designed her sleek chignon. He wrote on Instagram: “So nostalgic and wonderful to be reunited Harry, Meghan and their family in the UK. Archie has grown to be the cutest, well mannered little boy and Lilibet is just beautiful.”
