Not the first time that a royal milestone has fallen on a birthday weekend for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's young children.
King Charles will be officially crowned on May 6, 2023, which happens to be the same day his grandson Archie Harrison celebrates his 4th birthday, according to People. After the Queen's demise on September 8 at the age of 96, it was speculated that the new King would pick June 2nd to honor the date of Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953. Queen Camilla will be crowned alongside her husband. Following age-old royal traditions, the ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey in London, where British monarchs have always been coronated for the last 900 years. The Palance confirmed the same in a statement. "The Coronation will reflect the monarch's role today and look towards the future while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry." However, this is not the first time that a royal milestone has fallen on a birthday weekend for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's young children. During the summer, their daughter Lilibet who was named after the Queen's childhood nickname turned 1 on June 4th, the third day of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee weekend. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had invited family and close friends to gather for a "casual, intimate backyard picnic" at their Frogmore Cottage home.
Last year in June, King Charles had an "emotional" visit with his grandchildren when they came from California to Britain. The trip marked Lili's first visit to the U.K. Meghan and Harry's daughter was born in California in June 2021 and had yet to visit her dad's homeland. Archie was born in the U.K. in May 2019 but hadn't been back since he was around 6 months old. On the Duke and Duchess' visit, a royal source shared, "It was a fantastic visit. The prince was delighted to see his grandson and meet his granddaughter for the first time." Since Charles had not met his grandchildren for some time, the source added, "the Prince and the Duchess [of Cornwall] were absolutely thrilled to see them. It was very special to have some time with him. He hadn't met Lilibet, his granddaughter, and so to meet her for the first time was very emotional — it was a wonderful thing."
The royal grandchildren also got to visit their great-grandmother for the first time then. In a statement made on September 12th, Harry said, "Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren." "I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between. You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honor my father in his new role as King Charles III,"
References:
https://people.com/royals/king-charles-coronation-grandson-archie-birthday/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images- Pool | (L) Hugo Burnand | (R) Toby Melville
