Meghan Markle has started sharing more photos of her children – including a snapshot to celebrate Prince Archie’s birthday. We’ve taken a look at all the times we’ve been given a glimpse of her son

The Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram this week to share a brand new photo of her son Archie, in celebration of his sixth birthday. The snapshot shows the little boy silhouetted against a fiery sunset, which Meghan captioned, “Our son. Our sun.”

She added: “Happy 6th birthday to Archie! Thank you for all of the love, prayers, and warm wishes for our sweet boy. He’s six! Where did the time go?

“(And for all of you who came to celebrate with us at his party last weekend, thank you for making his birthday so incredibly special).”

The sweet image is the latest family photo Meghan has shared with the world on social media – the amount of which have increased significantly in recent months.

From the very beginning, Meghan and Prince Harry have emphasised the importance of maintaining privacy for their children. Harry has shared his specific concerns about the potential for media scrutiny and the impact on his children’s well-being, and the couple were initially reluctant to publicly show Archie and Lilibet, especially their faces.

However, fans have noticed a sharp increase in the number of photos the Duchess has posted since relaunching her Instagram account earlier this year – seemingly in contradiction to their desire for privacy. Critics have also noted that many of the pictures have coincided with Meghan’s lifestyle projects, including the launch of As Ever and promotional content for her Netflix show.

Some commentators have suggested that Meghan and Harry differ on how much to expose Archie and Lilibet to the public. Speaking on the Right Royal podcast, royal expert Matt Wilkinson said: “My understanding of this is that up to a certain stage Harry would much rather his children were not seen.

“He doesn’t want them to be [photographed]. He’s got this idea that if he takes them outside of Montecito, that there is a hoard of us out there trying to take photos of his kids.”

Regardless, fans of the Sussexes delight every time a new photo is shared. And so, from the very first photos of Archie as a baby, through to his latest birthday snapshot, we’ve taken a look at all the times we have seen Harry and Meghan’s son…

1 of 29

The couple announced Archie’s arrival on 6 May 2019, with a statement which read: “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex was safely delivered of a son at 0526hrs this morning. The baby weighs 7lbs 3oz. The Duke of Sussex was present for the birth. Her Royal Highness and the baby are both doing well.”

Just two days later, both Harry and Meghan introduced little Archie to the world in a photocall held at Windsor Castle, close to the grounds of their UK home, Frogmore Cottage.

Harry told photographers: “We’re both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there, it’s been amazing, so we just wanted to share this with everybody.

“Parenting is amazing,” he continued. “It’s only been two and a half days, three days, but we’re just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy and be able to spend some precious times with him as he slowly, slowly starts to grow up.”

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Image:
POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

2 of 29

At the start of July 2019, two-month-old Archie was spotted in his mum’s arms as she watched Prince Harry play polo alongside his brother William. Princess Kate was also in attendance with George, Charlotte, and Louis

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Getty Images)

3 of 29

The official christening photograph of Archie showed him with his parents in the rose garden at Windsor Castle

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Image:
AFP/Getty Images)

4 of 29

Harry and Meghan shared several unseen family photos in their Harry & Meghan Netflix docuseries, including this one showing Meghan’s mum Doria with her new grandson

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pixel8000)

5 of 29

Archie’s first official tour was to South Africa with his parents in September 2019. The four-month-old was a part of the experience and was seen in public during the trip, including meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

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Image:
WireImage)

6 of 29

To celebrate Archie’s arrival, Harry and Meghan made sure he was centre-stage for their first Christmas card as a family of three in 2019

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Image:
PA)

7 of 29

Prior to setting up home in California, Harry and Meghan lived in Canada – from where they shared this photo of father and son

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Internet Unknown)

8 of 29

Another sweet photo that appeared in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show saw Archie giving his mum a kiss

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Image:
Netflix)

9 of 29

Harry was also seen feeding his young son in his highchair at the family home

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