Prince Archie Once Wanted This Unexpected Gift, but Meghan Markle Said No — Here’s Why

Meghan Markle once joked about the big gift she wouldn’t give Prince Archie, “not even for Christmas.”

Meghan, 44, and Prince Harry, 41, are parents to son Prince Archie, 6, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 4, and the Duchess of Sussex shared the story at a Netflix event two years ago.

In November 2023, Meghan moderated a Q&A session that followed a special screening of the Netflix film The After with the short film’s star, David Oyelowo, and director Misan Harriman, who is a close friend of hers and Harry.

Harriman is a celebrated photographer credited with capturing Princess Lilibet’s first birthday portrait, and the Duchess of Sussex spoke about his creative influence on Prince Archie.

“The inspiration runs deep,” Meghan said at the event held at a private residence in Montecito, California, where she and Prince Harry live with their children. 

“Our 4-year-old, 4 ½ -year-old son — he would say, ‘No, I’m not 4. I’m 4 ½ — Misan was showing him how to do photography the last time he was with us, and I bought Archie a camera, and he said, ‘But it’s not a Leica like Misan,’ ” she said with a laugh. “I said, ‘You are not getting a Leica! Not even for Christmas.’ So thank you for the inspiration across the board.”

The premium Leica brand cameras retail for thousands of dollars, making it logical that Meghan would be hesitant about giving one as a present to her young son.

The Duchess of Sussex, however, shared lots of insight into her family’s holiday festivities in the Netflix special, With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration, which premiered on Netflix on Dec. 3.

The special installment followed seasons 1 and 2 of With Love, Meghan on Netflix and showed the Duchess of Sussex cook, craft and create with new friends and old in the spirit of the season.

One activity she walked through was creating reusable Advent calendars for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, featuring their names and lots of pockets for small treats. 

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“Hopefully, we have these for quite a long time. A tradition has to have a beginning,” she said.