In the last hours before the Queen’s burial, it was still unknown where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s kids were.
Archie, 3, and 15-month-old Lilibet are said to have remained in America as the Duke, and Duchess of Sussex attended the vigil in Westminster Hall this week.
They have reportedly been in the care of nannies and the Duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, at the couple’s house in Montecito, California.
In Los Angeles on Friday, the grandmother—the only member of Meghan’s family to attend the royal wedding—was spotted alone.
Harry and Meghan were scheduled to return to the US on September 8, the day the Queen passed away, after a brief trip to the UK and Germany that lasted less than a week.
According to Omid Scobie, a writer close to the Duke and Duchess, the two young children saw the late Queen for a special luncheon in Windsor around Lilibet’s first birthday in June.
‘Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren,’ Prince Harry said in a statement made public after the Queen’s passing.
According to rumors, Archie and Lilibet won’t get their new titles until after the formal royal mourning period ends on September 26.
They are referred to as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor in the line of succession on the Royal Family website.
According to rumors, they will be awarded the titles of Prince and Princess but not His and Her Royal Highness (HRH) because the Royal Family does not employ their parents.