The gap of the Atlantic Ocean feels even wider as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their children celebrate milestones multiple time zones apart from their royal relatives in England, where King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Princess Kate chose to remain last Friday during Princess Lilibet’s christening.
The ceremony took place at the couple’s home in Montecito, California, a representative of the Sussexes confirmed to People, and was overseen by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Reverend John Taylor. A small group of 20-30 friends and family—including Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother, and Tyler Perry, Lilibet’s godfather—celebrated the major moment for Lilibet, who is 21 months old, with treats and dancing. (People reports big brother Archie, 3, even danced with his little sister.) The king and queen consort, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, were each extended an invitation, but none took the trip to California.
The event landed only a few weeks after the publication of Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare, which still remains at the top of the New York Times bestseller charts and has spurred the Duke of Sussex to address his family drama in multiple recent interviews.
In a January interview with People, Harry revealed his hopes that his extended royal family might reach some sort of peace following his and Meghan Markle’s exit from official duties in 2020. “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution—so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy,” he said.
But in a separate interview in January with ITV news anchor Tom Bradby, Harry said that no attempts at healing have been fruitful. “[My family] feel as though it’s better to keep us somehow as the villains,” he revealed. “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile. I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back … The door is always open, the ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed, and I really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”
In the meantime, those same family members are preoccupied with King Charles’ impending coronation, set for May 6. A Sussex representative recently confirmed that the couple has received an invitation, but “an immediate decision on whether the Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time.”
Culture Writer
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.
