Yes, the British media is still obsessing over the blurry, low-res photo of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The photo – which did not show Archie and Lili’s faces – was included in a set of six photos for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Christmas card. The British media cannot decide what upsets them the most about the photo, but I tend to believe that the level of nitpicking obsession would not be as high as it is if Prince William and Kate had already released their Christmas card. What’s the hold up?? In any case, the Daily Mail wants everyone to know that the Sussexes are horrible for dressing Prince Archie in jeans (terribly unroyal) and dressing Princess Lili in knee socks (terribly royal!).
From Princes George and Louis to a young Prince Harry and Prince William, young royal boys are often spotted wearing shorts – rather than trousers – when accompanying their parents on official duties. Yet Prince Archie, five, was dressed much more relaxed in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Christmas card, with the King’s grandson sporting a pair of blue jeans and a green jacket. Likely thanks to his parents, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, no longer being working royals, and the casual nature of the snap, Archie was dressed in a pair of trousers, rather than shorts.
His cousins, Princes George, now 11, and Louis, six, would often be photographed sporting adorable shorts and knee-high socks when they were younger. Prince Louis, for instance, opted for that ensemble when he attended Sandringham in 2022 for Christmas Day alongside his family members.
Speaking to PEOPLE magazine previously, Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward explained: ‘It is considered very suburban for a little boy to be in long trousers when he is just a little boy. It is shorts until you’re 8 and then “woo, you’re in long trousers”. They suddenly feel very grown up,’ added the royal expert.
Previously, etiquette expert William Hanson told Femail that Kate put her son exclusively in shorts as it’s an aristocratic way to dress. He claimed that shorts on young boys are, in fact, a silent British class marker and trousers are deemed ‘suburban’, which no self-respecting royal would want to be considered. ‘Catherine has to dress her own children and find a balance between royal tradition and heritage and more proletariat customs, such as the “suburban” habit of making young boys wear trousers,’ he explained. ‘Although I don’t really think that the sartorial rule of shorts for young boys would be a new one for Catherine. I would suspect that her own mother and mother’s friends knew this – as more well-heeled middle class mothers do – and dressed their own boys accordingly.’
Yes, they’re trying to make it into yet another class thing, as in Middle-Class Kate is clever and upwardly mobile for dressing her sons like Little Lord Fauntleroy while Meghan is terribly low-class for letting her five-year-old son wear (gasp) jeans. Nevermind that American boys would never wear those posh-British-boy getups. Meanwhile, the Mail makes it sound like Meghan is purposefully copying Princess Charlotte’s style for Lili.
Princess Lilibet appeared to be taking inspiration from her older cousin Princess Charlotte in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new holiday card. The season’s greetings from the Archewell Foundation featured a new photograph of the couple’s rarely-seen children Prince Archie, five, and Lilibet. It made for the first time the public have seen Lilibet in two years, since a photo was last released for her first birthday in 2022.
Now aged three, a very grown-up Lilibet was seen with her mother’s long flowing hair, and also sported a very familiar dress. Though the photo was taken from a distance, Lilibet could be seen lovingly running towards her father Prince Harry, and was wearing a sweet spotted dress in baby blue with white socks.
It’s a style that is beloved by Princess Charlotte, nine, who has often been seen in a very similar take on the patterned dress, with a similar cut. However, it’s not known if the cousins have ever met. In 2018, Charlotte was seen wearing a light-blue dress with a floral pattern and white collar as she visited St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington to visit her baby brother Prince Louis.
You mean to tell me that two girls, thousands of miles apart, both wore patterned dresses? I’m flabbergasted! Honestly, the knee-high socks on Lili surprised me a little bit because I do associate that with how Kate dresses her kids, but it’s also just… how a lot of girls dress. Like, that’s legitimately a popular style for little girls.
Christmas card courtesy of Archewell, additional photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid, SussexRoyal social media.
