Royal Photographer Remembers Showing Queen Camilla First Glimpse of Newborn Prince Archie on Their Phone During ‘Difficult Times’
It seems Prince Harry and Meghan Markle didn’t share a glimpse of their son, Prince Archie, with Queen Camilla after his 2019 birth. Sure, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have texted, emailed, or taken to WhatsApp to tell British royal family members the news and share photos. But Queen Camilla wasn’t among them. A royal photographer claims Camilla saw Archie for the first time in a press photo shown to her on their phone.
The first time Camilla saw Archie was in a press photo on a royal photographer’s phone
Just as Princess Lilibet turns 3, the birth of Harry and Meghan’s son is back in the headlines. On May 6, 2019, Harry and Meghan welcomed Archie.
Five years later, longtime royal photographer Arthur Edwards has claimed the couple didn’t send a photo of their newborn son to the then-Duchess of Cornwall.
Instead, Edwards told The Mirror that the queen saw her stepgrandson for the first time in an official photo the photographer showed her on his phone.
Edwards, who has photographed British royals since 1977, recalled being on a royal tour of Germany with Camilla at the time.
“I remember showing Camilla in, I think, Munich the first pictures of Archie that was [sic] taken by the press,” Edwards said. “I showed her on my phone. And that was the first time she saw him. It was difficult times.”
King Charles III also joined his wife on the four-day trip to Germany. However, it’s unclear how and when he first saw Archie.
Harry and Meghan introduced Archie to Queen Elizabeth, the world
On May 8, 2019, Harry and Meghan introduced Archie to his great-grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Also present was Meghan’s mom (and Archie’s maternal grandmother), Doria Ragland.
Photographer Chris Allerton captured the moment in an official photo. Harry and Meghan then posted the image to Instagram, announcing their son’s name: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. (He and his sister now use prince and princess titles.)
Unlike other royals before them, Harry and Meghan didn’t introduce the baby with a Lindo Wing photocall. Instead, they introduced Archie during a photo call at Windsor Castle the same day the newborn met his great-grandparents.
As for why Harry and Meghan introduced Archie in the way that they did, the pair discussed it in their eponymous 2022 Netflix docuseries. “There was already the pressure of the picture with Archie on the steps,” Meghan said. “‘Are they going to do that, or are they not?’”
“But I had been really worried going into that labor because I am older [she was 37 at the time], and I didn’t know if I would have to have a C-section.”
“I had a very longstanding relationship with my doctor, and that is who I trusted with my pregnancy. And they said, ‘Right, but she is at Portland Hospital, and the steps are at this hospital [the Lindo Wing].’ And I said, ‘OK, we could do a photocall in front of Portland Hospital.’”
Dubbed “‘impossible’” because surrounding streets couldn’t be barricaded, coupled with “‘a threat for the emergency room entrance because that is where you would have to do this picture,’” Windsor Castle became the venue.
Harry and Meghan’s relationship with Queen Camilla is strained
Things between Harry and Meghan and Camilla aren’t great, which, for royal watchers, is likely no surprise. Harry’s estranged from his brother, Prince William, 41, and his relationship with his father—and by extension Camilla—isn’t much better.
What Harry said about his stepmother in Spare is a factor. He described Queen Camilla as “dangerous,” claiming she’d “sacrificed” him on her “personal PR altar.”
Meanwhile, a recent report claimed Harry is distrustful of the growing friendship between his brother, the Prince of Wales, and their stepmother.
