Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son, Prince Archie, celebrates his fourth birthday on May 6, the same day as the coronation of his grandfather, King Charles III.
Though the prince and his younger sister, Princess Lilibet, have remained in California with their mother for the big day, his father has traveled to Britain to attend the historic royal ceremony.
Though Archie has made no official public appearances over the past 12 months, it has been a milestone year for the young boy who not only made his authorized docuseries debut but also became a prince in his own right.
Harry and Meghan have made strong efforts to protect the privacy of their two children, being careful not to overexpose them to the media, with whom Harry in particular has a strained relationship.
Though the couple have not released a number of official portraits of their son, as is usual for royal children, the public did get a chance to see a large amount of private family snaps and self-shot video footage of the prince in the bombshell Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan which aired in December 2022.
The show charted the duke and duchess' love story as well as their break from the monarchy in 2020, after which they set up home for themselves and their young family in the exclusive celebrity enclave of Montecito in Santa Barbara, California.
Never before seen footage of Meghan and Harry with their son throughout the first four years of his life were included in the show that was created in partnership with the couple's Archewell Productions media company.
One stand-out piece of footage which was widely reported on showed Harry and Archie watching a hummingbird feed on the Sussex family's terrace.
"I've got a dirty foot momma," he was heard saying to Meghan as Harry explained that it is rare to see hummingbirds so close. A number of social media users commented on Archie's American accent, given that he has not lived in Britain since he was six months old.
The docuseries broke streaming records for Netflix, with whom Harry and Meghan signed a multi-million-dollar content creation deal when they stepped away from the royal family in 2020.
Also included in the show were touching family photos and a scene showing Meghan holding her son up to a portrait photograph of his grandmother, the late Princess Diana.
Perhaps the biggest change in the public life of Archie over the past 12 months occurred in September 2022, when his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 96.
With this, he was no longer a great-grandchild of the British monarch but a grandchild instead and he moved one position closer to the throne in the line of succession.
Now as a grandchild of King Charles III, Archie was legally a Prince of the United Kingdom in accordance with protocols laid out by King George V in 1917, controlling the distribution of royal titles.
Whereas from birth, the royal had been known (at his parents request) simply as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, it was announced in March 2023 that since King Charles' accession he would be referred to by his "birthright" title of Prince Archie of Sussex.
After an announcement that Princess Lilibet had been christened using the title for the first time, Harry and Meghan's spokesperson commented: "The children's titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became Monarch. This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace."
Shortly thereafter, the palace updated their website to reflect the new titles.
Apart from the Netflix show and titles announcement, Harry and Meghan themselves have provided intimate insights into their family life through interviews and also through Harry's memoir, Spare.
In August 2022, Meghan introduced her son to the journalist Allison P. Davis who wrote a profile on the duchess for The Cut magazine. Davis wrote that the prince has a "shock of ginger curls identical to his father's," and that he toddled into the room "demanding 'Momma' listen to his heartbeat with a wooden toy stethoscope."
"'We always tell him: 'Manners make the man,'" Davis quoted Meghan in reference to raising her son. "'Manners, manners, manners, manners, manners.'"
The journalist was also invited to accompany Meghan in picking Archie up from his pre-school and wrote that his parents were making efforts to teach him "that some people live in big houses, some in small, and that some are in between homes," as the duchess offered supplies to a homeless person on the return journey.
In addition to The Cut, Meghan gave an insight into how she views her children's futures in a profile with Variety published in October 2022.
When asked how she would respond if Archie or Lilibet told her they wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, she responded: "I would say, 'Great!' When you become a parent, you genuinely want your kids to find the things that bring them complete joy. They're our kids, obviously, and they're part of a legacy and a tradition and a family that will have other expectations. But I want them to be able to carve out their own path.
"If it's the entertainment industry, great. And also, good luck. There are so many people that will talk about what opened the door for my children. But it still takes talent and a lot of grit. We're creating multidimensional, interesting, kind, creative people. That's who our kids are."
Prince Harry too has provided an insight into his children's lives through his media projects, including his Spare memoir.
One section of the book detailed Queen Elizabeth II's last moments with his children who were taken to see her on a visit to Britain in July 2022 at the time of her Platinum Jubilee.
After his grandmother's death, Harry wrote: "For days and days we couldn't stop hugging the children, couldn't let them out of our sight—though I also couldn't stop picturing them with Granny.
"The final visit. Archie making deep, chivalrous bows, his baby sister Lilibet cuddling the monarch's shins. Sweetest children, Granny said, sounding bemused. She'd expected them to be a bit more...American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious."
Though no official plans have been released, it is expected that Prince Archie will celebrate his birthday with a small party for close friends and family, including his grandmother Doria Ragland, at home in California.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
