Hidden messages in all Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s Christmas cards – including key moment they ditched royal protocol
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry are expected to be celebrating Christmas away from the royal family in California this year.
Fans are anticipating the release of their annual Christmas card, and according to a body language expert, the previous years have contained some very telling hidden messages.
Their first joint card came in 2018, half a year after their fairytale royal Windsor wedding in May.
Over the years the Sussexes have continued to send out a festive card, and often featured their kids - Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three - front and centre.
In fact, the couple shared a photo of their daughter Lilibet for the first time on their 2021 card - but opted for couple shots for 2022 and 2023.
Body language professional Judi James told Fabulous what we can learn from these strategic choices…
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2018
For their first Christmas card together, Meghan and Harry opted for a glossy black-and-white shot of the couple watching the fireworks at their evening wedding reception at Frogmore Hall in Windsor.
Judi told Fabulous: "This cool, monotone photo doesn’t just allow us a more intimate glimpse of Harry and Meghan on their wedding day but it is also posed to allow us to share what they were seeing and experiencing rather than looking at them and their faces.
"Their backs are to the camera to achieve this but there are still enough body language signals like the torso-lean; Harry’s one leg splay, and the way their arms are twined around each other’s backs, to create a narrative of deep love and romance.
"The fireworks might not be seasonal but they symbolise the couple staring out on a future life together of excitement, drama and change, but using a calm approach.
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"They’re telling us of both their love and their optimism here and the intertwining suggests a message that they can take on the world as long as they are together.
"The fact this pose is chosen above anything Christmassy shows their total focus here is still on their love story."
2019
Royal fans were given a festive treat in 2019 as Meghan and Harry’s Christmas card featured a sweet snap of baby Archie crawling towards a camera.
Also in black and white, the image showed the new parents gazing adoringly at Archie, with their Christmas tree behind.
Judi shared: "The overall design of this card is so in keeping with Harry and Meghan’s early desire to present their lives in the idyllic style of a fashion magazine cover, just prior to their stepping down from royal life.
"The monochrome pic defines them as chic and cool, even though their clothing is as casual as their poses.
"This card presents them in escape mode and the hint is that they flew the nest on behalf of their child, with a mutual, tunnel vision in terms of their pride and love for Archie.
"Having fled ‘restrictive’ royal life in the UK they are showing how relaxed and perfect their life is as a family unit and how ‘free’ and unrestricted Archie can be too, crawling happily towards the camera."
The body language professional said it's "ironic" that they chose a "determinedly non-royal pose" and it is is subconsciously based on a royal tradition.
She explained: "Charles and Diana famously ‘launched’ their first son William to the press by standing back together to allow William to walk towards the cameras and address them alone in a very similar way."
2020
The Sussexes deviated from their black and white theme for their 2020 card, which came following their highly-publicised step back from royal duties and relocating to California.
The card was a drawing showing Prince Harry holding Archie, then-18-months-old, while a casually-dressed Meghan sits crossed-legged on the floor.
The Sussexes posed in front of a Wendy house in their sprawling garden in their Montecito mansion, with a Christmas tree next to them.
Judi analysed: "This was their first Christmas in their glamorous Montecito home but there was also an emphatic move from 2019’s ‘Vogue cover’ to an Enid Blyton-style image of idyllic childhood here, to show that relaxed family vibes were coming before any glitz. There is even a hint of the nativity scene here in the posing.
"Harry and Meghan are showing us their lives are now rotating entirely around their son, the little prince in every aspect.
"They have got lost in a world of childhood and even sized-down their own world by showing them all in and around a Wendy House to suggest their everything has been shrunken to be compatible with his.
"The viewer is being allowed a glimpse into their happy lives here, rather than having any direct ‘to camera’ messaging as they did the year before. This suggests a closing in around themselves and a retreat as a family unit, rather than a more public approach or communication."
2021
Royal fans were left delighted after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their 2021 Christmas card - with the couple's adorable children stealing the limelight.
The card was the first time the public were treated to an image of baby Lilibet, who was born in June that year, and the tot was seen laughing as she was held aloft by her mother.
The picture was taken by photographer Alexi Lubomirski in the summer - fans were quick to comment on two-year-old Archie's flame-red hair.
The body language expert shared: "This pose looks like the perfect response to any suggestion that Harry might have done the wrong thing in leaving his royal role and his family in the UK.
"The smiles and the denim suggest solidity and continuity. It’s a romantic signal that seems to suggest that happy endings really do exist if you stick together and stick to your guns."
She also pointed out the family being bare-footed and said it indicates a rejection of royal protocal.
Judi explained: "Their bare-footed posing, which they featured during other shoots, is emphatically symbolic in terms of registering their ‘freedom’.
"It’s a hippy symbol of a rejection of the norm and of formality and getting back in touch with the earth and nature."
2022
Meghan and Harry went in a different direction for their 2022 card, and didn’t feature Archie and Lilibet.
Instead, the California-based couple's festive message included a black and white photo of them taken at a glitzy awards ceremony in New York.
Judi observed: "This is an abrupt change of Christmas image from ‘parents’ to ‘power-couple’ for the Sussex’s, whose documentary had just dropped on Netflix.
"They’ve returned to the ‘cool’, chic look of the monochrome photo, and surgically removed any feel of Christmas warmth and family cheer for a stunning emphasis on power-couple styling.
"It’s a US society look, a status look and also a business look, with cosy jumpers and jeans swapped for elegant, formal designer-wear.
"This card looks like a symbolic closing of the doors on their family life, as though privacy is now a priority apart from in their working lives."
2023
In 2023, the Sussexes’ annual “holiday season” card was sent on behalf of their Archewell organisation.
It includes a photo that was taken during the closing ceremony of the 2023 Invictus Games, which took place in Germany.
It's also linked to the pair’s annual Archewell Foundation impact report, which had a video highlighting some of the work their most proud of from this year.
In the virtual card, the couple could be seen clapping as the US team walked onto the stage as Bruce Springsteen's hit song Born in the USA played at the time.
Judi shared: "This card looks like a huge stroke to Harry’s ego with a pic taken during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf.
"Having performed doting poses around their children previously, or been snapped as an equally-balance power couple, this looks like the year that Harry is shown as the star and the centre of his wife’s attention.
"They are dressed again as a celebrity power couple and their proud-looking, applauding, grinning-upward poses show their capacity for supporting and creating success in other people, meaning they are reminding us of their status and roles as benefactors and campaigners.
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"They are showing us here that they have the capacity to make a difference to people’s lives, rather than showcasing their own family life.
"Harry looks commanding and alpha here, while Meghan lowers herself slightly as she claps with an open-mouth smile, creating a non-verbal nod to the fact that it is Harry who is the hero at this event."
How do Meghan Markle and Prince Harry celebrate Christmas?
ONE royal tradition that Prince Harry has taken into his new California life is opening presents on Christmas Eve.
The royal wrote in Spare about his 2020 celebrations: “It was Christmas Eve. We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain.
“We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition.”
Harry also opened up about how they chose their Christmas tree.
He wrote: “We took Archie to find a Christmas tree.
“A pop-up lot in Santa Barbara. We bought one of the biggest spruces they had.
“We brought home, set it up in the living room. Magnificent.
“We stood back, admiring, counting our blessings. New home. Healthy boy.”
In an interview with Marie Claire, Meghan shared that Archie and Lilibet leave out "carrots for the reindeer".
The couple are likely to spend the festive period with Meghan's mum, Doria Ragland.