Pies are sweeter, twinkling lights are brighter, and holiday cheer is bigger with kids around. There’s something about seeing the magic of the season through a little kid’s eyes that is so magical — and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are soaking it all up with their kids Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. The Duchess of Sussex gave a rare glimpse into her family’s “fun” holiday traditions, and it sounds delightful.
“I love the holidays,” Markle told Marie Claire at a holiday dinner for Afghan women starting new lives in the U.S. as part of the Archewell Foundation’s Welcome Project. She added that because Archie and Lilibet are older now, “every year it gets better.”
“At first, I think as a mom with children you’re just enjoying having them there, but they’re not understanding everything that’s happening yet,” Markle continued. “But now we’re at the age where I just can’t wait to see it through their lens every year.”
As a mom with kids similar ages (7, 5, and 2), I completely understand where Markle is coming from! It’s just so joyful and exciting! And like many of us with young children, the Sussexes don’t do anything too fancy for the holidays. Their holiday celebrations are “always pretty low-key,” according to Markle, who invites her mom Doria over for Thanksgiving and other friends, like feminist icon Gloria Steinem.
“I was thinking about, in the past few years of having Thanksgiving here, like many of us, I think you always make sure there’s room at the table for your friends who don’t have family, which is really key,” she explained. And they want to make sure the kids have a good time as well. “We’re always making sure we have something fun to do,” she continued. “Like any other family you spend time having a great meal and then what do you do? Play games, all the same stuff, someone brings a guitar — fun.”
It sounds chill and comfortable, and I love that they get to enjoy these laidback celebrations in their California home. “Every single holiday is a new adventure,” Markle told the outlet, adding that she loves the enjoying the “magic” of traditions with her kids, including making “great recipes that they end up connecting to a formative memory” at Thanksgiving and putting out “carrots for the reindeer” at Christmas.
This isn’t the first time the Duchess has gushed over the holidays as a mom. At Variety’s Power of Women event last November, she told E! News that her and Prince Harry are “creating new” traditions with their kids. “We’re creating new ones now that our little ones are growing up. And we’re enjoying every moment of it,” she explained, adding, “I love trimming and decorating the tree with my children.”
Holidays for the Sussexes seem cozy and merry and full of wonder — and we bet Archie and Lilibet will have the best time!
Before you go, check out everything we know about Princess Lilibet and the alleged controversy around her name.
