The festive season is in full swing, and the Royal Family is no exception, with both the Waleses and Sussexes catching eyeballs for their Christmas gestures. The ongoing royal rift between them took a festive twist after the two families released their annual Christmas cards. Soon after the respective releases, comparisons came flooding in.
On December 16, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry released their 2024 Holiday Card. It portrayed beautiful moments from their philanthropic travels. A standout image captured a rare glimpse of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, running joyfully into their parents’ arms. That sweet candid family moment warmed fans’ hearts. However, they received backlash too as some pointed out that the children’s images were AI.
View this post on Instagram
Just days later, on December 19, Prince William and Princess Kate released their own Christmas card. The Prince and Princess of Wales selected a poignant family portrait taken during Kate’s video earlier this year, where she revealed she had completed chemotherapy and was “doing well.” The heartwarming photo, set in Norfolk, showed the future Queen with her family.
Columnist Amanda Platell from The Mail weighed in on the stark differences between the couples’ festive cards. She said, “What a contrast with the one image the Princess of Wales released for the Wales’s card—a snap taken from the poignant video she made earlier this year with her family… It shows the difference between the two sides of the family.”
View this post on Instagram
Platell also commented on the Sussexes’ current standing, saying, “As Harry and Meghan’s popularity in the US plummets—and Kate’s soars, even being nominated for Time magazine’s Person of the Year—everything they do is starting to have an air of desperation, of being forced.”
According to some royal watchers, Kate’s Christmas card might have intentionally targeted Meghan Markle. Platell added, “In that one simple picture of our future Queen surrounded by her young family, Kate has taught Meghan a vital lesson: How to be classy at Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have drawn attention for more than just their holiday card. The couple appears to have extended an olive branch to King Charles. That seems to be a focus on positivity rather than controversy in 2024.
Hugo Vickers, a royal expert, discussed the Sussexes’ decision to refrain from making controversial remarks as a “special gift” for the cancer-stricken monarch. “He’s [Harry] the one who needs to pull himself together and extend the olive branch because he is the one making it difficult between them,” Vickers told The Sun.
Ever since stepping back from their senior royal roles in 2020 and moving to California, the Sussexes have been at the center of tensions. The rift was further fueled by Harry’s memoir Spare and other interviews. Markle and Harry had even accused the Royal Family of being a racist towards her. However, the claims were dismissed to be ‘simply untrue’ by royal expert Lord Hall. However, this year marks a noticeable change. Vickers said, “They’ve realised that it wasn’t getting anywhere because it was causing so much trouble.”