Merry Christmas from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry! The happy couple’s 2020 Christmas card has been revealed, with the London-based animal welfare charity Mayhew — one of Meghan’s patronages as the Duchess of Sussex — sharing the card via their Twitter account on Dec. 23, 2020. It showed the family of three in a water color painting, all cuddled in front of a children’s playhouse. Archie was portrayed as having thick, red hair just like his 36-year-old father, and posed in a standing position in between his daddy’s legs for the painting, which was based off of a photo taken by the tot’s grandma, Meghan’s mom Doria Ragland.
We’re thrilled to receive wonderful Christmas wishes from our Patron, The Duchess of Sussex, who also made a personal donation, helping dogs, cats and our community. 💜 From all of us at Mayhew, thank you and Merry Christmas. 🎄🐶🐱
Find out more! 👉 https://t.co/5o2RHLveRM pic.twitter.com/uBV19F6Odt— Mayhew 🐶🐱 (@themayhew) December 23, 2020
“The original photo of the family was taken at their home earlier this month by The Duchess’s mother. The small Christmas tree, including the homemade ornaments and other decorations, were selected by Archie, and the tree will be replanted after the holidays,” a spokesperson for the family tells HollywoodLife.com.
While it wasn’t an actual photo of Archie — those are incredibly rare — hopefully he bears the same resemblance to his father in real life with that beautiful red hair. The last time Archie was seen in person was on May 6, 2020 in a first birthday video, where Meghan, 39, read him the book Duck! Rabbit! for Save The Children UK’s official Instagram account. At the time his hair was still coming in, and appeared to be light brownish-red.
The painting shows the backyard of the couple’s $14 million Montecito, CA estate. Lush trees and a green lawn are seen in the background, with bright green foliage around the playhouse. In addition to Harry and Archie sitting in the doorway, Meghan is painted in a white shirt, jeans and brown knee high boots — a look she has proven to favor. The couple’s black lab Pula and Meghan’s beagle Guy also make an appearance in the family painting.
It’s been quite a year for Meghan and Harry. The two kicked off 2020 by announcing that they would be stepping down from their royal duties to live a more private life in North America. They relocated to Canada for a few months before heading to California, where they bought a home of their own in August. The Santa Barbara mansion has been a safe haven for the couple as they’ve mostly stayed away from the public eye amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Meghan also recently made a very personal revelation about something that she and Harry had to deal with this year. Over the summer, Meghan was pregnant with the couple’s second child, but she miscarried in July. It wasn’t until the former actress wrote an op-ed in November that news of the miscarriage was made public. “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second,” Meghan recalled in her piece for the New York Times. “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.”
After several months of healing, Meghan and Harry now have some exciting endeavors to look forward to in 2021. Earlier this month, it was revealed that they partnered with Spotify and signed a multi-year podcast deal. The podcast, which is called Archewell Audio, will kick off with a holiday special (premiere date TBA), and will follow with a new series at some time in 2021. The specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but it definitely seems like the couple will be creating quite a bit of content for their fans in the months to come!