Queen on call for Archie’s lonely 1st birthday in LA
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex will celebrate son Archie’s first birthday today – separated from family and friends on lockdown in Los Angeles.
Grandfather Prince Charles and great grandmother the Queen are expected to see him on video calls but there can be no big party because of the coronavirus restrictions in California.
Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, are likely to release a picture of their son, who has not been seen since they published a photo – said to have been taken at their former home on Vancouver Island in Canada – in December.
The couple, who quit their senior royal roles at the end of March, are now living in a gated community in Los Angeles. The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is expected to begin easing lockdown rules this week.
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born at the private Portland Hospital in London on May 6 last year.
He is seventh in line to the throne but is expected to play no part in the working life of the Royal Family.
His parents chose to avoid giving him a title in accordance with their wish that he should grow up to be a private citizen. They also ignored their senior officials and decided to refuse to release the names of his godparents after his christening on July 6 in the private chapel at Windsor Castle.
In theory, the names of the godparents should have been open to inspection in the register.
However, the Sussexes argued that Archie’s godparents should not be put on public record because the baptism took place in a royal peculiar, a place of worship that comes under the Queen’s jurisdiction. Their identities remain unknown.