Following Harry and Meghan’s announcement that they’re expecting a new baby, all eyes are on the couple as they strike out on their new adventure away from the Royal family.
The pregnancy was revealed with a touching photograph taken remotely by their long-time friend Misan Harriman, and shows a barefoot Harry sitting on the grass while Meghan lies with her head in his lap, cradling her belly. Now, it’s been widely noted (not least by Omid Scobie, co-author of their biography Finding Freedom) that the date of the announcement was significant beyond being made on the day of L-O-V-E, February 14th: in fact, Harry’s late mother Diana announced her pregnancy with him precisely 37 years earlier on Valentine’s Day 1984.
Of course, fans of the Sussexes will know that it’s far from the first time they’ve paid tribute to Harry’s mum. From forget-me-notes to hymns and bangles to diamonds, we look back at all the times Meghan and Harry have publicly nodded to Diana in their relationship to date.
1. Harry’s bangle
Harry has been pictured wearing a metal bangle for years, and the photo announcement of his new baby was no exception. Following Princess Diana’s death when he was just 12, Harry and his brother William travelled to Africa where they're believed to have acquired the bracelets (Prince William has been seen sporting a similar bangle in the past). Harry spoke to Town and Country Magazine back in 2017 to explain that “I first came [to Africa] in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags — we were going to Africa to get away from it all.” From his school days to his wedding, it seems Harry is never without the bracelet; clearly, it means a lot, and so it’s only fitting that it features in this latest announcement from him and and his wife.
2. Announcing Baby Archie
When Harry and Meghan announced the impending arrival of their first baby Archie, they made sure the news was shared where it counted first. At the time, their official statement named Diana’s siblings as well as the Royal family in a list of those already notified. ‘The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Earl Spencer have been informed and are delighted with the news’, read the statement, which differed from William and Kate’s press releases which noted only ‘members of both families’ and major royals in announcing their children.
3. Making roots across the pond
On August 31st last year, Harry and Meghan visited Los Angeles’ Preschool Learning Centre to talk to kids there about healthy eating and to work on the school's garden alongside them. The couple were pictured getting their hands dirty, planting wildflowers, tomatoes, peas – and forget-me-nots. Famously Princess Diana’s favourite flower, August 31st happened to mark 23 years since her death; as such, the gesture was a touching tribute to her memory in their new home state of California.
4. The bouquet
Forget-me-nots have bloomed in Harry and Meghan’s story more than once, and the late Princess’ favourite flowers were centre stage when the couple said ‘I do’ at St George’s chapel, Windsor Castle, back in 2018. Meghan’s bouquet was a breathtaking arrangement of delicate spring flora, and contained forget-me-nots alongside stems handpicked from their private Kensington Palace garden.
5. The wedding hymn
Clutching her delicate bouquet, Meghan met her husband-to-be at the altar where a choir sang Guide Me, O Thy Great Redeemer. It’s a hymn that Harry's brother William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton chose for their marriage too, and for good reason – the song was part of Diana’s funeral 21 years before her youngest son’s wedding, and footage from the day seems to show Harry getting emotional as the music soars. Beyond that hymn, the ceremony was full of tributes to Diana, including a reading from the The Song of Solomon by her sister Lady Jane Fellowes. A Kensington Palace statement described how the couple felt ‘honoured’ that Lady Fellowes would be ‘helping to celebrate the memory of the late princess on the wedding day’.
6. The engagement ring
Speaking of weddings, Diana’s presence was felt in the run-up to Harry and Meghan's nuptials as well as on the big day itself. Having announced their engagement back in 2017, the ring which sealed the deal was the subject of much discussion (and envy, we’re only human). Featuring a jaw-dropping central diamond from Botswana where the couple holidayed together, it’s the stones on either side that tell a more sentimental story. ‘The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's [Meghan's] favourite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection, to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together’ said Harry in interview with the BBC at the time. Hey, they say diamonds are forever – on Meghan’s finger, Harry’s memories of his mother will last even longer.
7. In Meghan’s wardrobe
Harry’s wife has made plenty of fashion homages to his late mother (who could forget the brimmed hats and black coats of Remembrance Sundays 2019 and 1984?), but the outfit she chose for her final public appearance as a working royal was a real showstopper. Appearing at Westminster Abbey for Commonwealth Day Service with Harry last March, Meghan wore a jewell-coloured green ensemble – one which reminded eagle-eyed Royal observers of another outfit worn by Princess Diana at the 1982 Trooping the Colour. From the netting to the fascinator, from the pop of green to the elegantly draped fabric, Meghan and Diana’s looks were decidedly in tune despite being separated by decades.
8. The couple’s charity work
Meghan and Harry announced their non-profit Archewell, which aims to ‘[uplift] communities through non-profit partnerships and creative activations', in October 2020. After an initial flurry, the project went pretty quiet – that is, until December last year when the Sussexes published a ‘Letter for 2021’. The address includes some pretty poignant lines about family ties, opening with the words ‘I am my mother's son. And I am our son's mother.’
Certainly, Harry’s the son of a mother who was renowned for her charity work while she was alive; she led a campaign to ban landmines around the world, became of patron of Centrepoint working with the homeless, and changed attitudes about HIV at the height of the AIDS crisis when she was photographed shaking hands with HIV-positive patients in 1987. Highlighting their mutual indebtedness to their respective mothers via a charity named after their son Archie, the Sussexes made a clear statement about their priorities in a new life away from the monarchy – inspired by a woman who changed it forever.
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