No. The Queen did NOT snub Archie, Harry and Meghan in her Christmas speech.
Perhaps you’ve spotted recent headlines about the Queen distancing herself from Harry, Meghan and baby Archie in her Christmas speech? You may have seen chatter about the photos assembled on her table not including the Sussex gang? Even assertions that Harry and Meghan are ‘cancelled’ in the Queen’s eyes?
The Queen did NOT cancel Harry
Well now that there is a little breather between Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, there’s time to talk about what actually happened.
Spoiler alert: the Queen did not ignore or ‘cancel’ her grandson Prince Harry and his family.
The truth of the matter is that she gave baby Archie extra special top billing during her traditional broadcast, showing a photo of herself smiling at her new great-grandson, as Duchess Meghan and Harry introduced their baby for the very first time.
But many chose to ignore this, insisting that the photo display directly beside her indicated a ‘snub’ of Harry and fam.
What it actually represented was the line of succession to the throne, with photos of her father King George, her son Prince Charles and his eldest son Prince William and family (including Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis who are ALL ahead of Prince Harry in this line).
There were two other photos surrounding the Queen too, they were just positioned behind the others.
It looks like one is of Meghan and Harry, although it’s quite hard to make out the details. It’s possibly taken at the Natural History Museum gala in London back in February, where Meghan wore a very similar cream coat and dress. That photo sat at the Queen’s right shoulder.
The other photo is of the Queen’s husband Prince Philip who was discharged from hospital in time for Christmas at Sandringham. You can see those pics above.
“Delighted!”
Not only does there appear to be a photo of Meg and Harry beside the monarch, but the Queen also focused specifically on wee Archie Harrison smack back in the middle of her speech:
“Two hundred years on from the birth of my great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, Prince Phillip and I have been delighted to welcome our eighth great-grandchild into our family,” she said.
“Of course at the heart of the Christmas story lies the birth of a child – a seemingly small and insignificant step overlooked by many.”
It’s all proof that you shouldn’t believe those tabloid headlines – and that the suggestion that the Queen would publicly reject Archie, Harry and Meghan is total piffle.
The much-critiqued Sussexes
That’s not the only thing that’s piffle when it comes to reporting on the Sussex family this Christmas.
There’s been a lot of nasty discussion about the candid family snap Meghan and Harry sent out to supporters in the form of an ecard this year. To the point where Meghan’s friend Janina Gavankar came out to set the record straight revealing on Twitter that she not only took the photo, but that it has not been digitally altered.
The press has gone to town over this image, deciding that various parts of the family photo have been Photoshopped to make Meghan’s face the focus of the shot. Those reports assert that it’s an attention-seeking grab by the Duchess. Sigh.
The press and snarky social media users are never going to let up on this couple, are they? They make the purest things ugly, without a second thought.
It’s no wonder the Sussex family has gone to ground in Canada, spending much-needed time away from the public eye.
So proud to have taken the Christmas photo for one of my best friends and her family. Here’s the original that was sent out. pic.twitter.com/75aGNPR88X
— janina gavankar (@Janina) December 25, 2019
