At Long Last, the First Portrait of Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor Is Here

Platinum Jubilee weekend included a few appearances from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but no sightings of their two children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, even though Lili, who was named after the childhood nickname of Queen Elizabeth, celebrated her first birthday on Saturday. But now that the jubilee weekend is over, a friend of the couple has provided a look into Lili’s private birthday party. Photographer Misan Harriman shared a few pictures taken at Frogmore Cottage to his Twitter account on Monday.

In one photo, Meghan is holding Lili and in another, Lili is sitting on a patch of green grass. These are the first images of Lili where her face is fully visible; she was shown from the side in a Christmas card released last year. According to The Sun, the party was casual and had picnic-style snacks along with a visit from a few royal cousins.

Harriman, who was the first Black man to photograph a British Vogue cover, also took the photographs when Meghan and Harry announced that they were expecting Lili in February 2021 and the images that went along with Princess Beatrice’s engagement to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in September 2019. In 2019, Harriman told Vanity Fair about the experience of photographing their engagement. “You can’t be nervous when the subjects are so comfortable,” he said. “I call my lens the truth seeker, and that is exactly what was captured, two people who have found their safe harbor in each other.”

Meghan and Harry watched Trooping the Colour and were present at the Friday morning Service of Thanksgiving, but did not attend any further public events during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The trip marked Lili’s first trip to the U.K., and her first opportunity to meet her grandfather Prince Charles and the queen, her great-grandmother. 

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