A recent revelation from Meghan Markle regarding her and Prince Harry’s two children has been perceived as a snub against Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Harry and Meghan abandoned the royal family over five years ago, and as such, their two children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, have not had practically no interactions with their royal relatives. However, due to the lack of any blood relatives, the Duchess of Sussex and her family have made do with close friends of the family. Meghan revealed that her children refer to two of her friends as “aunt” and “uncle.”
Who are Archie and Lilibet’s adopted aunt and uncle?
In her new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, the duchess mentioned that her children are close with her friend, make-up artist, Daniel Martin, who Archie and Lilibet apparently call “Uncle Daniel.” Martin joined Meghan in the show’s first episode, in which she prepared him a thoughtful guest basket.
On a separate occasion, in an Instagram story from Mar. 3, Meghan also referred to her friend, tennis star Serena Williams, as the aunt of her two children, according to an article from New Idea.
This would no doubt upset William and Kate
The surrogate aunt and uncle might be a painful reminder for Harry that his own family are so absent from his and his children’s lives. A royal insider told New Idea that this was a blatant display of “disregard to the children’s blood family.”
While it’s not uncommon for close family friends to sometimes be referred to as aunts or uncles, it seems like an obvious snub towards William and Kate, who are the children’s biological family. The source goes on to say that the Prince and Princess of Wales do want to be in Archie and Lilibet’s lives despite the bad blood between the two sides of the family.
“Prince William and Princess Catherine especially would love to be in their nephew and niece’s lives because family is everything to them – but it’s now very apparent that Meghan’s makeup artist Daniel Martin and tennis champ Serena Williams have usurped them.”
Meghan and Harry’s children have only briefly met their royal relatives, mainly King Charles, who has reportedly met Archie only a handful of times and met Lilibet once. However, Archie and Lilibet are thought to have not met their cousins, George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, even once, and a family reunion doesn’t look like it will be on the cards any time soon.
It’s a sad situation
Harry and Meghan have claimed to share video calls with their kids and Charles, but the royal source says: “it’s not the same as interacting in person.” Kate apparently feels especially sad that their children have yet to meet properly.
The situation is the result of Harry’s estrangement from his father and brother. Both sides are simply too stubborn to move past the conflict, resulting in the children unfortunately being raised without a connection to one half of their family. The unnamed source goes on to warn that, “it can only be a matter of time before they wonder why they don’t see Uncle Will or Aunt Catherine – or any other royal relatives.”
Published: Mar 12, 2025 10:50 am