December 17, 2022 | 12:37pm
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released their 2022 holiday card on Friday, but it had two very important people missing from the image.
The couple’s son, Archie, 3, and daughter, Lilibet, 1, were noticeably absent from the greeting.
“Wishing you a joyful holiday season,” the card read.
“From our family to yours, and on behalf of our teams at The Archewell Foundation, Archewell Audio, and Archwell Productions, we wish you health, peace, and a very happy new year!”
The card was accompanied by a black-and-white photo of Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, which was taken during a recent night out at the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award Gala earlier this month in New York City.
In the photo, the Duke of Sussex wore a dark-colored suit, while the Duchess of Sussex wore a white, off-the-shoulder gown with her hair pulled back.
The couple may have kept their children out of this year’s holiday photo because as they previously shared they want a “basic right to privacy.”
“If you’re at work and you have a photograph of your child on your desk, and your coworker says, ‘Oh, my gosh, your kid’s so cute. That’s fantastic! Can I see your phone so I can see all the pictures of your child?’ You go, ‘No. This is the picture I’m comfortable sharing with you,’” Markle argued in her 2021 tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“And then if they double down and say, ‘No, but you already showed me that one. So you have to show me everything. You know what, I’m just gonna hire someone to sit in front of your house, or hide in the bushes and take pictures into your backyard, because you’ve lost your right to privacy… because you shared one image with me.’”
Not only does the family want privacy, but they have also had issues with the British media allegedly using racial slurs against their children.
“Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” Markle,who is biracial, told the Cut in August.
While the Sussexes’ kids remain discrete, Prince William and Kate Middleton had their family of five present for their Christmas card, which was released on Tuesday.
In the image, taken by Matt Porteous, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children — Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4 — hold hands as they take a stroll outside their Norfolk, England, home in casual outfits.
The royal children all wore shorts and short-sleeved shirts, while William, 40, and Middleton, also 40, paired their blue jeans with long-sleeved shirts.
“Sharing a new picture of the family for this year’s Christmas card!” the senior royalscaptioned the new pic on their Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Though the Sussexes and Waleses are spreading holiday cheer, the families are currently at odds.
On Thursday, Netflix released Vol. 2 of the tell-all docuseries, “Harry & Meghan,” in which the youngest son of Princess Diana and King Charles III talks about his strained relationship with the rest of the royal family.
In one episode, Harry talked about how William broke a pact they made to keep their offices from leaking negative stories about each other to the press.
“William and I both saw what happened in our dad’s office and we made an agreement that we would never let that happen to our office,” the father of two said.
“I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game or business of trading, and to see my brother’s office doing the same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do, that was heartbreaking.”
Harry also said his big brother screamed at him when he told the family that he and the former “Suits” actress would be stepping away from their royal duties in 2020.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment about the series.
All six episodes of “Harry & Meghan” are now available to stream on Netflix.
