The Duchess of Sussex has shared a new image of Princess Lilibet to celebrate her daughter's fifth birthday. Captioned 'our dream girl', Meghan Markle posted the photo on her Instagram account, with her daughter's face covered.
The barefoot youngster, known as Lili, was pictured with her long red hair down, being held in her father Prince Harry's arms as he looks at her adoringly. Meghan is standing next to Harry in the image with her arm on his shoulder, also smiling at the princess.
The duchess wrote in the post: 'Our dream girl. Happy 5th birthday, Lili,' followed by a white heart emoji. She also shared another photo showing Lili standing barefoot on the grass in the sunshine, wearing a summer dress. Lili is reaching out to touch the flowers of a blue-purple agapanthus, which is commonly known as Lily of the Nile or African Lily.
The King's granddaughter was born on 4 June 2021 in the US and was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. She became entitled to be a princess only when Charles acceded to the throne, because of rules set out by King George V in 1917. Harry and Meghan started using prince and princess for Archie and Lili after the princess's christening in 2023, following correspondence with Charles about the matter.
According to recent reports, Prince Harry is hoping they will be invited by the King for some 'family time' at Sandringham this summer. The Duke of Sussex has only seen his father twice in two years, while his son Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet last saw their grandfather more than four years ago. The Duchess of Sussex was last in the UK when the couple attended Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022.
Harry, who is currently waiting for a decision on his UK security, has said he would not feel safe bringing his family to the UK without armed police protection, which the Sussexes lost when they stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to the US. But the duke would reportedly welcome an invitation from the King to his estate in Norfolk, as he believes this would enable him to bring his family with him. Harry last saw his father on 10 September last year when they met for under an hour at Clarence House for the first time in 19 months.
