The Sussexes posted a new photo of Archie with Prince Charles for Charles’ b-day

We’re probably going to have many conversations about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their holiday strategy over the coming weeks. But can we all agree that we’re always going to want new Baby Archie photos? Can we all agree that cute baby photos soothe and pacify the public and the royal commentators? Faced with story after story about how the Sussexes are “snubbing” the senior royals with their holiday plans, the Sussexes did something smart: they released a never-before-seen photo/portrait from Archie’s christening. The Sussexes have been sitting on these photos for months! I mean, they released two portraits from Archie’s christening, but I would imagine there were many more to choose from. Including this one, of three generations of Windsor men – Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Archie.

It would have been great to see a photo of Charles holding Archie, but maybe the Sussexes are saving that one for another time. Or maybe Charles didn’t get to hold Archie at the christening, who knows. The money shot will be
 the Duchess of Cambridge holding Archie. Maybe they’ll post that one for Kate’s birthday, lmao. I wonder if William had held Archie? Hm.

Anyway, happy birthday to Charles. He’s 71 years old. Which is a bit crazy, but here we are. A 71-year-old Prince of Wales. His two sons are 30-somethings meatheads. None of this is going to end well.

Oh, and Kensington Palace posted their birthday IG after the Sussexes. They included an old photo of Charles and Prince George Louis, plus some nice photos of Charles with his sons.

archie1

Photos courtesy of SussexRoyal IG, Backgrid.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

133 Responses to “The Sussexes posted a new photo of Archie with Prince Charles for Charles’ b-day”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. P says:

    Im sure Kate has held Archie, you can tell she really loves babies.

    • R2Blast says:

      Agreed!
      I know that there’s conflict but I sure love the family photos where happiness and love is evident.

  2. DaisySharp says:

    “A 71-year-old Prince of Wales. His two sons are 30-somethings meatheads. None of this is going to end well.”

    I was thinking this! I almost posted something similar on the other thread but decided not to as people are touchy about it. Yeah, it’s all going to end so so badly. That’s all. Sorry.

    • JemimaLeopard says:

      Thought you wrote it would end baldly lol that too tho!!

    • Original Jenns says:

      “A 71-year-old Prince of Wales. His two sons are 30-somethings meatheads. None of this is going to end well.” This just made me laugh!

      Crazy to think Charles is older than Edward when he inherited from Queen Victoria. I’m truly beginning to believe this monarchy is creaking toward it’s end. I think that, unlike other monarchies, the UK one is holding onto what it used to mean, even if they don’t have the actual power they wielded in the past. Spain, Sweden, Denmark, etc, have embraced what it means now, more physical representative of their countries and good works. UK royalty are, of course, involved in charities and patronages, but it feels different. It could just be that the UK royals are in the news and gossip rags more, too.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      “His two sons are 30-somethings meatheads. ”

      My biggest disappointment is that neither of Charles’ sons want to take over The Prince’s Trust. I found this hard to swallow but maybe David Linley, Earl of Snowdon is the better choice in the long wrong as he is much more capable than Cambridge or Sussex to continue in Charles’s mode of operation….i.e. He knows how to work as an executive in the background to get things done.

      • Betsy says:

        Ive never understood why William doesn’t. Harry is the spare (to the spare to spare etc) and as such he’s done his own things. Seems like William should be taking it over as his father is taking over the throne.

    • Loopy says:

      Meatheads!! So perfect! So funny!

  3. Becks1 says:

    That’s Louis, not George, and I laughed so hard when I saw that. maybe that was always the planned post and there is absolutely nothing going on behind the scenes.

    but when I saw that my first thought was “oh, they saw the Sussex Royal account and scrambled to find a picture of Charles with a grandchild” lol.

    • Toot says:

      That’s exactly what probably happened.

    • Belli says:

      My tinfoil hat is firmly wedged on when it comes to KP and their social media strategy, so I wondered this too…

      • Bella DuPont says:

        Yup. I think KP buy followers (can you still do that?) to make sure they always have more followers on Instagram than the Sussexes.

        Yet, the Sussex account always seems to have more likes for their posts than Cambridge’s. In this particular case, almost double. 🧐

      • notasugarhere says:

        You can do assessments to see how many are active and how many are likely bots. Assessments I’ve seen show at least 40 percent of the KP followers are bots.

        If IG does remove the likes function, it will be interesting to see how that impacts the numbers on these royal IG accounts.

      • Erinn says:

        They’re not removing the like function, nota. I’m in Canada, so I was part of their early tests. They’re just hiding the number. You could still click and see every account who liked it, and if you’re the owner of the account you can still see the number of likes your posts got. I also assume they’re using an algorithm to figure out the numbers – not sure how that would be impacted, but I’m sure third party sites will find SOME kind of workaround.

      • Bella DuPont says:

        @ Nota

        40% sounds about right. What initially made me very suspicious was how quickly their number of followers grew in conjunction with the newer Sussex account. The KP account has been running for years…..it should have a fairly steady trajectory by now. So how does one explain the sudden surges in number of followers, coincidentally always just enough to ensure their number remains higher than Sussex?

        I can just see William letting it be known that heads will roll, should the Sussex numbers surpass theirs, as quite frankly, it should have.

      • Lexa says:

        I’m sure both accounts have a lot of bots, but I don’t think KP is necessarily buying followers. The two instagram accounts are increasing at roughly the same pace right now, and have been for months. I put that down more to KensingtonRoyal being the first suggested account to follow when you follow SussexRoyal (and vice versa) and the Instagram algorithm feeding SR followers KR content (and, again, vice versa). The discoverability for each account is pretty high, but SussexRoyal more actively pulls people to the account with special content, which, in turn, benefits KensingtonRoyal in the algorithm. It would be interesting to compare their percentage of crossover followers!

      • notasugarhere says:

        Swedish Steel Cut Tiara tinfoil hat theory? Meghan haters creating dozens of new accounts each time the SussexRoyal account gets more followers than KP.

    • Enn says:

      I was actually awake and scrolling through IG at 4 a.m. (thanks bronchitis) and KR posted before SR, or at least that’s how it showed up in my feed. I think they were a few minutes apart.

    • Lexa says:

      It might actually be the opposite. The Cambridges posted to Instagram first–the timestamp on their post is 2019-11-14 09:09:44, and the timestamp on the Sussexes is 2019-11-14 09:22:08. If someone cares enough to, you can confirm by opening the posts in your Chrome browser, right clicking on the time and selecting “Inspect.” It looks like the Cambridges’ Twitter post was posted almost simultaneously–09:09:43.

      I think Charles’ people want to work that very sympathetic “Grandpa Wales” angle, so maybe it was coordinated. That said, it was good Instagram game of Meghan to pick an unseen photo. Archie is an adorable little guy and I really hope we get another look at him in their holiday card or on Christmas morning.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Lexa – I will stop you right there and say that I don’t care enough to check it in chrome, LOLOLOL. I believed @Enn 😉

      • Enn says:

        Haha, thanks @Becks! Although I really shouldn’t laugh because I’ll cough more. đŸ˜‰đŸ€’

      • Lexa says:

        I feel that, Becks1! I know some folks are highly suspicious (not you!) and wanted to give some concrete evidence. Enn–I hope you feel better soon!

  4. Lummy dee says:

    Is it just me or does Charles look uninterested in this pix? How can you go see a baby, your grandchild and you’re not playing with him or even smiling? He’s looking so detached with his hands behind him as if …

    • aurora says:

      Eh, not all people are “baby people”. Maybe Charles did but just not in the official pictures?

    • Smalltown Girl says:

      It’s not just you. Especially when you compare it to the picture of him with Louis. I know one is a more candid pose with an older baby, but the difference is there. Charles does not look particularly engaged with Archie.

      • (TheOG)@Jan90067 says:

        Didn’t Camilla say once that Charles doesn’t really “like” little ones; he’s much more engaged when they’re old enough to talk and follow him around his garden? I think Charles is happy enough with his grands, but in general, he’s just a “veddy, veddy proper prince”. Certain things are just “not done” in public/in front of a camera.

        For all we know, besotted Harry didn’t want to give up holding Archie! 😊 It is *so* obvious how much he adores his baby (and wife!).

      • notasugarhere says:

        He did fuss over and play so much with William and Harry as babies that Diana kicked him out of the nursery. But as someone else mentioned, Camilla spends Christmas at Ray Mill with her grandkids. Charles can only take all of those little kids in small doses.

        Charles and Camilla’s Christmas card 2011 was an adorable shot of them on the balcony after W&K’s wedding. Charles holding Camilla’s granddaughter who was a bridesmaid.

      • Jane'sWastedTalent says:

        Nota, I’ve never heard that about Charles, Diana, and the babies but it sounds adorable (if also rather sad.) Can you tell more about it, or is there a good source to read that you recommend?

    • Fluffy Donuts says:

      Charles is from the old guard. He was raised the way all royal babies were raised, with nannies galore then sent off to boarding school. Diana was one of the first to thumb her nose at that. He probably has no idea how to relate with them.

    • RedRoyal says:

      Nevermind

    • spookie says:

      @ Lummy Dee

      I think it is just you.

    • Lightpurple says:

      It’s a candid shot taken during a formal photo shoot. They’re in position for the formal picture that was probably taken just seconds later. Charles is looking at Harry and Archie with what appears to be pride, not disinterest.

    • L4frimaire says:

      It’s a formal event not a play date. Your not going to be handling and bouncing a baby in that huge silk gown.

  5. S808 says:

    Harry looks so enamored with Archie.

  6. The Long-suffering Sequin says:

    Kate looks weirdly mean in that picture!!

    Love little Archie, and Harry’s face <3

  7. HK9 says:

    I’m always here for pictures of Archie!!

  8. smcollins says:

    I still can’t get over how much Archie looks like Harry! Definitely daddy’s mini-me.

  9. Mignionette says:

    Here’s my 2 cents…

    La familia real are running scared that Team Sussex are about to chuck it all in. Notice the shout outs and recent messages of support. It feels as if the dynamic has ever so slightly shifted….

    • Harla says:

      I agree, I think Meghan’s comment in the interview about how very few have asked her how she’s doing was aimed at the RF. So of course they’re all scrambling now to been seen as supportive, very predictable.

  10. ChillyWilly says:

    Harry is a meathead? For why? Also, has Chuck even seen Baby Archie since his christening? I mean, is this the only photo they have of them together?

    • R2Blast says:

      Archie’s photos are locked- revealed only when H/M want them to be. I don’t believe we can read anything into “why” or that we have any insight into what photos they do or do not have. (Not that it matters but ok by me!)

      • ChillyWilly says:

        Dude, all we do here is “read into things”. That’s why it’s called a gossip site and not a facts site.

    • Becks1 says:

      I’m sure they have other pictures, but maybe not other professional pictures of Archie and Charles, and I like how they keep releasing pics from the christening.

  11. PizzaLove says:

    You know, the Sussexes could win everyone over if they just posted lots of adorable baby photos. Archie wouldn’t care. But it would be hard to attack them if they are always pictured with that little cutie. Why are they holding out?

    • Lina says:

      Are you f’n SERIOUS???? “Oh people would leave them alone and stop being racist as hell if they just posted tons and tons of pictures of their child for public consumption.”

      You are trash.

      Eta: you’re going around in multiple threads demanding pictures of their child. Do you have……Andrews interests?

      • ChillyWilly says:

        I do not see one thing Pizzalove said to warrant being called trash! JFC, calm down and act right!

      • PizzaLove says:

        Lina, I think most people love photos of cute babies and children. I certainly do. Interesting you find that trashy.

        People started being kinder to Kate once she started posting more about her kids. It is pretty natural. It is hard to attack photos with adorable children in them. Family photos ROCK!!!

      • Becks1 says:

        Yeah…..I think the notion that they could just post pictures of Archie and all would be well is dead wrong, and I realize this person (PizzaLove) has made several comments about wanting to see more pics of Archie.

        But calling them trash and insinuating that this person is like Andrew is really gross.

      • Coz’ says:

        Oh wow. I mean I think Meghan and Harry are the only one entitled to their children’s image and I totally understand why they want to keep his life as private as possible, but calling PizzaLove a pedophile in a not so subtle way?
        Jeez it escalated quickly.

      • Lina says:

        Please, y’all don’t find it SUPER weird that PizzaLove has demanded more pictures of a freaking baby? That definitely pings my psycho-meter.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        Do not ask me why but people, even non-royal watchers, seem to have a great interest, both good & bad, in Archie.

      • Jaded says:

        Lina…settle down. There’s no reason to be so OTT rude. PizzaLove has neither “demanded” pictures nor pings anyones “psycho-meter. She made a perfectly discussable statement and you’re reacting like she’d suggested letting the paps following him around 24/7. “Are you f’n serious” and “you are trash” is no way to respond to a legitimate comment. Now go away and have a tantrum.

      • Erinn says:

        You might want to read the comment policy there, Lina. You seem to be breaking it in multiple ways.

    • olive says:

      “holding out”? no one is entitled to photos of their child. and they shouldn’t have to use their child as a human shield against bad press!

      • notasugarhere says:

        This. Their child is a private citizen with public parents. The public has no rights to their children, and nobody was screaming for pics of Louise and James when they were raised quietly out of the public eye.

        The demands for, ‘Show us the baby!’ come from the 1) racists because they want to tear him apart and 2) RRs who are frustrated they aren’t allowed money-making shots of Sussex offspring.

      • Sof says:

        I agree and would like to add that we don’t know if Archie wouldn’t mind having his pictures published for all the world to see. If its a public event, sure, that can’t be avoided, but his private moments? No, let him be.

      • Lorelei says:

        And haven’t we already seen more photos of Archie than we did of George or Charlotte when they were this age? I genuinely don’t understand the complaining.

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      Babies don’t magically fix hundreds of years of institutional racism

      • Moneypenny says:

        And just wait until the racists come for Archie too. He’ll never be white enough for them.

      • swirlmamad says:

        Yep. As the parent of 2 biracial children….just the idea of putting my kid(s) out there for vile bigots to criticize and bad mouth is extremely icky. I’m sure H&M don’t enjoy having to put out the amount of pictures that they do.

      • ira says:

        Yet Meghan married into it and you all cheered for her.

      • Valiantly Varnished says:

        @ira I’m a black woman hun. And have experienced racism enough to know that institutional racism exists EVERYWHERE. But thanks for your input.

      • kerwood says:

        @ira, so Meghan’s child should have to suffer because Meghan chose to marry Prince Harry? How about racists stop being so racist?

        I was happy when Meghan married Harry because I thought it meant change for the royal family and that they would be more representative of the commonwealth and the people who pay to keep them in the positions they hold. I never imagined that things would be this ugly, that a pregnant woman would be abused the way Meghan was.

        So yeah, I did cheer. I underestimated how vicious racists are, which is always a mistake.

    • kerwood says:

      By that reasoning, why doesn’t Donald Trump allow more pictures of his young son? Pictures of him interacting with the boy might make Trump look more human.

      • Liz version 700 says:

        Kerwood I wonder if there are pictures of Trump and Barron. Barron always looks like he has no idea who this guys is when they are together

      • swirlmamad says:

        Good point. I highly doubt he has much of a relationship with him at all.

  12. Loretta says:

    What a beautiful pic!

  13. JanetFerber says:

    The look Harry has for Archie, like the sun rises and sets for him, is everything. That is truly precious and warms my heart. I like how Kate towers over Prince Charles. I think she’s 5’9″ and maybe she’s in heels. Just how tall is Charles? I so want Meghan to have another baby soon. They are a darling little family and deserve all the happiness in the world. When it comes down to it, I believe Harry has a much stronger and deeper love for Meghan than William has ever had for Kate. Even with all Meghan’s travails with family and the racist English press, I’d still rather be her than Kate. Just my opinion.

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      Well Charles is 71. He’s shrunk quite a bit as he’s aged. And Kate is tall and probably in heels so…

    • Oddsnends says:

      Charles used to be about 5’10”. I’m pretty sure he’s shrunk a bit.

      I think Charles is keeping his hands behind his back to force himself not to play with the adorable, picture-perfect grandson and maybe upset him and spoil the photo-shoot. I bet they have personal photos of Charles holding Archie.

    • Bella DuPont says:

      I actually think the depth of Harry’s feelings for Meghan is one of the things eating William up alive.

      • notasugarhere says:

        William settled for convenience and someone who understood the deal of letting him do what he wants in private time. Harry went out and found his real match. Charles has ended up happy with Camilla, Harry is blissful with Meghan. And then there’s W&K’s business deal. I can see that eating William up.

      • Valiantly Varnished says:

        I think that is a HUGE part of it. I think it also bugs him that Harry was always the “screw-up” younger brother who made William look good by comparison (in his mind). I think that the fact that not only is Harry head over heels in love with his wife, but he also married a smart, accomplished woman in her own right who hit the ground running and highlighted how lazy he and HIS wife are really pisses Will off. That was a run on sentence but you get what Im saying lol.

      • Becks1 says:

        @VV – I think that is a huge part of the current divide between Cambridges and Sussexes. Harry is no longer the screw-up younger brother, and he married a woman who is exactly as you described – smart, accomplished, etc. Plus, she has a work ethic lol. So not only does she make Harry look better, but she makes Will and Kate look worse. And William knows that and I think it drives him crazy.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Bella ITA with you and all the comments under yours. I think that William loves Kate, but is nowhere near as madly in love with her as Harry clearly is with Meghan. Add all of Meghan’s accomplishments to the mix and William is likely seething.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        I really do not think Normal Bill settled for Cathy. I think Cathy was the only one really interested in marrying him and marrying his crazy family.

        Does one really think for one moment that Rose Hanbury would be interested in being married to the crazy Windsor-Mountbatten clan? I know Isabella Amaryllis Charlotte Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe Branson was not interested nor was Jecca Craig in being a Windsor-Mountbatten.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I think William wanted to put no effort into bettering himself to land a better partner. He cheated on her for years to go after women he wanted more, so he was out looking. Kate was convenient, her family treats him like a god, and they get what they want out of the transactional marriage (term from an earlier CB poster).

        I’m sure there was at least one other woman who would marry William. He would have to put forth effort and a lot of self-development to make it happen, and hard work and introspection aren’t William’s thing.

      • kerwood says:

        @Bella, I think you’re right on. Harry was such a mess back in the day and William looked good in comparison. In addition, Harry was always available to escort Keen Katie and keep her amused while William was following his sceptre around.

        But now the ‘screw-up’ has turned things around. It had started before he met Meghan but I think having Meghan in his life inspired Harry to be the man he wanted to be.

        So now, when Normal Bill is compared to Harry, he doesn’t come out on top. What’s worse is that he’s stuck spending time with his wife. I think that’s probably pissed him off the most. No working out with yummy mummies and sniffing rose bushes. Just all Kate, all the time.

      • Hope says:

        William is Dawson and Harry is Pacey. (Don’t judge me. I’m just in a silly mood). Anyone remember when Dawson got pissed off at Pacey and actually said that Pacey was supposed to be the screw-up? No? Just me?

        There is no Joey in this situation. Though Kate does have a million coats. And Meghan does seem like an anxious over-achiever.

    • L4frimaire says:

      It’s hard to compare a fairly newly married couple in the first flush of newlywed glow to a couple who have been together a very long time. Plus they’re both very attractive and charismatic. Also, with Sussexes it’s them against the world so he’s very protective of her and the baby, so it’s just more visible. We’ll see where Harry and Meg are in 5 years and hopefully these storms have died down and they’re more settled with another kid. Will and Kate are well settled, he thinks he’s the sun king( not even close), Kate and kids revolve around him,🙄and they seem to have some sort of synergy, and are comfortable. Also being co-conspirators in palace intrigue and one upmanship and pettiness must be a real turn on for those two .

  14. Iknow says:

    Every time I see this picture of Doria and Meghan surrounded by this sea of white, and not just any white – European royal white. Racist white. Imperialistic white, I can’t help but to feel sympathetic. Because she loves her daughter, she has to endure in a space with people she knows at the end of the day, at some level, don’t believe she, her daughter, nor her grand child belong there – Harry being the exception of course.

    • bread says:

      Weird that you would exclude Harry since he’s the only one in that picture (that we know of) who’s called a brown man a “Paki”.

      • Iknow says:

        He married Meghan and had a child with her, so I would assume he believes she and Doria belong there. Of course this is my opinion.

      • swirlmamad says:

        People can change. This keeps getting pulled out. Harry was and rightfully was castigated for this when it happened, along with the Nazi costume debacle that keeps getting trotted out. I think EVERYONE in this thread if they are honest, can admit to making dumb stupid mistakes especially when they were young. What ultimately matters if you acknowledge the error of your ways, learn from it and move forward in a positive way — which I think Harry has. He’s shown growth and maturity, especially since meeting and marrying Meghan. I’m sure he wishes with everything he has he could erase those mistakes from his history, but he can’t. I’m sure it kills him that Archie will see that one day. There are full-blown racists who have had epiphanies and seen the error of their ways and are now doing the work to right their wrongs — should we refuse to let those people get on the right side of history? Harry was nowhere in that league and he’s certainly doing the work to make things right now. I guess all this to say that I don’t see the value in continuing to beat that dead horse if one is putting in the work to atone for their sins.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        @Beard, I said some things in my early pre-age 30 years that I deeply regret. I would bet that almost everyone has.

      • bread says:

        I guess I just thought it was weird to tar the majority of those people in the photo with the racist brush because they’re white and benefit from inherited privilege, while excluding the *one person* who has been actually proven to use racist language (and is also white and benefits from the same inherited privilege).

      • Valiantly Varnished says:

        @bread he wasnt singled out because he is also the only one who has demonstrably shown that he has grown and changed since then. He himself has talked about white privilege and his own privilege. Can you imagine Charles or William doing the same??

      • Hope says:

        Do you bring this up because you dislike bigotry or are you using this as a stick to beat Harry with? As a PoC, I raise an eyebrow at your comment and I’m not sure I want you as an ally.

  15. TheOriginalMia says:

    Nice picture. Wish it had been one with Charles holding Archie, but still the sentiment is nice. 3 generations together. It’s sweet!

  16. Guest says:

    Happy birthday I guess Charles. Just like his mother my opinion of him is low so good for him I guess. Also good for him to team up to do his own clothing thing. Just like Meghan, surprise surprise.

  17. cherriepie84 says:

    This photograph with Charles and Archie the cute is soooo meme worthy!

    Charles: hmmmmmm, let me see just how much melanin there……

    Just edited to say, one can never tell what will happen in life. Im sure never in a million years would the BRF even fathom that they would have mixed race family members much less a black in law! I’m happy I am alive to witness…….history.

    • Lady D says:

      If you were alive in the year 2000 you witnessed a once-in-a-millennium event. That’s history.

      • cherriepie84 says:

        Yes @LadyD, I was there….were you? Because night turned to day and that was it. Maybe I should have said “Historical” as opposed to “History” so that you could get the significance or the actual impact of the occurrence of what I was referring to.

      • Lady D says:

        I meant to add the word also before history to my sentence. I obviously didn’t, and didn’t realize it until just now. I realize it sounds like I was diminishing what you said, and that wasn’t my intent. I was adding what I thought was another exciting piece of history.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Meghan and Doria are not the first POC to be in-laws of the British royals in recent memory. Lady Davina Windsor was married to Gary Lewis (Maori) for a decade.

  18. Guest says:

    Lol I’ve seen this pic all over twitter but a lot of people are retweeting the one where they cropped Charlie’s out 😅

  19. Charfromdarock says:

    Maybe Charles isn’t a baby person. Although having children himself you’d think he would know how to hold a baby.

    • Nic919 says:

      There are a lot of pics of him being hands on with William and Harry as babies and toddlers so it’s not entirely foreign to him. That said I have heard stories that when all of Camilla’s grandkids show up they do it at her place and not Clarence House.

    • olive says:

      he’s old school royal, raised by nannies and boarding school, i doubt he’s much of a baby person

      • Tourmaline says:

        I remember when William and Harry were little there were reports, and even Diana said, that he was good with them, enjoyed giving them their bath time, etc. which was a major leap forward parenting wise from what Charles got from his father (or mother, TBH) as a kid.

  20. teehee says:

    Am I the only one finding the pictures really odd:
    person presenting an animate miniature human to some other larger human for show/approval “look at this thing I have produced for your lineal obligations”

    maybe its just cos its two of such pics in a row

    • ChillyWilly says:

      “look at this thing I have produced for your lineal obligations”
      Lol! You aren’t wrong!

  21. leigh says:

    I think the Cambridges picked photos where they looked good because the one with Bill and Charles together is NOT flattering to the POW. Happy birthday, Dad! To celebrate, here’s an odd photo of you we posted for the world to see.

    • bread says:

      Really? Charles is no oil painting but I think it’s a good picture. It makes him look alive with curiosity and humour – probably those things that the Cambridges appreciate in him.

    • Moneypenny says:

      I actually think BOTH the Cambridges and Sussexes did this. It is what I came here to say. I hate when people choose photos that are flattering for them, but not for the others. The Cambridges definitely did it, but choosing a pic of Charles where Archie is the focus when it is supposed to be for Charles’ birthday is just as bad.

      • Becks1 says:

        I kind of see this, but I also partly disagree. I think they all picked nice pictures that show Charles as a father and grandfather, which I think is nice to see. The Royal Family posted a picture of Charles as a child where Phillip is clearly the focus, so I don’t think its that big a deal.

        My one quibble is that I wish KP had chosen new pictures, I like seeing the christening pic bc its one we haven’t seen before. I think we’ve seen the three pics KP posted (but definitely #1 and #3.) but overall I think all the pictures are cute.

        I also think we are all really over-analyzing these IG posts, lol (myself included!!!)

  22. ArtHistorian says:

    That lady with the fedora at the back in the big christening photo looks really chic. That’s all.

    • notasugarhere says:

      She’s Lady Sara (Spencer) McCorquodale. One of Diana’s older sisters and the one Charles dated before Diana. The other sister, Jane, is the lady in cream next to her.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        I thought that was Lady Jane Fellowes in the fedora. Thanks for bringing me up-to-date.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I think you’re right, I mixed them up again. That’s always possible. Now that they both have gray hair, I have trouble telling. The yellow suit was a repeat from a church concert in 2000 where she was pictured with Charles.

  23. SJR says:

    Aww, chubby and cute baby. Go Archie! 🙂

  24. MsIam says:

    Such a beautiful picture! Hbd to PC!

  25. Blerg says:

    “Sir”? Does Meghan have to call Charles “Sir”? I am trying to figure out why that “sir” is there. Maybe just to acknowledge that some people but not family call him “sir”? Am I overthinking this?

    • Becks1 says:

      Okay so I noticed that too and my thought is that Meghan may call him Sir but almost as a term of endearment? like I wonder if when she and Harry started dating she was stressed about what to call him so just used “sir” all the time and now it has stuck? But not in like a “you must call me this” kind of way but in a “inside joke” kind of way?

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      I think you’re overthinking it. For all we know Harry is who calls him Sir.

    • Jaded says:

      I think it’s just referring to what he’s currently called – “sir” in public”, “pa” to his sons and DILs and now “grandpa”.

    • Erinn says:

      It stuck out, but I assumed it was either an inside joke, or just what general public may refer to him as.

    • Hope says:

      Charles used to make his girlfriends call him sir. He’s got issues.

  26. aquarius64 says:

    Lovely picture of 3 generations. The birthday shoutout is to tone down infighting stories.

    Thomas Markle is having the worst week to date. Meghan and Harry have officially announced their holiday plans do not include him and his demon spawn. Charles gets a birthday shoutout on Instagram ; Bad Dad didn’t get a card. Same birthday greeting shows Archie will know one grandfather – all this is Evil Papa Smurf’s fault. Tabloids are grieving because the planned family reunion for profit is blown to bits.

  27. Betsy says:

    I know we talked about it at the time, but could Doria look any better? She looks amazing, from the boss hat to the simple but perfectly cut suit in the gorgeous conch pearl pink with the jewelry….. chef’s kiss.

    I like Kate’s mini skirt a little too.

  28. Miriam says:

    We’ve seen MORE of Archie than ANY of the Cambridge kids at that age!! YET the XENOPHOBIC tabloids are pissed off because it’s copyrighted© and they have limited usage.

  29. SophieP says:

    Kate holding Archie isn’t “the money” shot. Kate isn’t everything. I mean really I find that comment insulting. “The money shot” is William spending time with his children without a camera around

  30. Penelope Cantrell says:

    If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times. Harry has the exact same eyes as Charles.