Lilibet’s flowing long hair steals the show in Harry and Meghan’s new holiday card after proud dad revealed she has been ‘blessed with her mother’s thick hair’

Royal fans gushed over Princess Lilibet’s long, flowing hair as seen in the first new picture of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter since 2022. 

The photograph is one of six images on Harry, 40, and Meghan’s, 42, new holiday card that was released on Monday, December 16. 

The picture of the Sussexes showed Lilibet, now three, running into her father’s waiting arms, while her brother Prince Archie, five, made a beeline for Meghan. 

After the card was shared on X/Twitter, several people noted how long Lilibet’s hair had grown in two years, after her proud father revealed she has been ‘blessed with her mother’s thick hair’. 

Reposting the Sussexes’ festive card, one X user wrote: ‘Look at Lili’s long hair!’ 

Another comment read: ‘Look at Lilibet’s red waves! Perfect mix of H&M!’ 

Earlier this year, Prince Harry told Hello! magazine that both Lilibet and Archie had their mother’s thick hair, with the Duke joking it wouldn’t be long until ‘Lili can sit on hers’. 

Recalling her conversation with Harry at this year’s edition of the WellChild Awards in London, the magazine’s chief content officer Sophie Vokes-Dudgeon wrote: ‘Archie and Lili have been blessed with their mother’s thick hair, he told us, self-effacingly, as he marvelled that it won’t be long until Lili can sit on hers.’

The last official photograph of Princess Lilibet was released on the occasion of her first birthday in June 2022, when the Sussexes gave the world a rare glimpse of their daughter. 

The season’s greetings from Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation showcased the highlights of the Sussexes’ year, including pictures from their four-day visit to Colombia in August. 

The card was shared on X/Twitter by the Sussexes’ long-time friend and royal reporter Omid Scobie.

Scobie, who wrote the couple’s biography Finding Freedom, captioned his post: ‘The Sussexes share highlights of their year on the 2024 Archewell holiday card.’

The card also included a personal message from the pair, which read: ‘On behalf of the office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundations. 

‘We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season and a joyful new year.’

Several people were delighted to see a ‘glimpse of the kiddos’ on the new card, with one person adding: ‘So cute to see a picture of their children. 

‘They are really redheads!’ 

Another comment read: ‘Okay so of course I went right to the photo of the kids!! Red heads!! Just like my grandkids!! I love it!!’ 

A third user exclaimed: ‘Omg. There [sic] babies have such red hair!!’  

While their new ‘holiday’ card celebrates some of the couple’s milestone moments, Harry and Meghan’s latest project – a Netflix docuseries about posh polo – has received scathing reviews from critics. 

The five-part docuseries, which was released on December 10, centres around the build-up to the polo World Cup in Florida and mainly focuses on players such as Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Timmy Dutta, and Nacho Figueras. 

The documentary, part of Harry and Meghans £80m-deal with Netflix, promised that it would showcase the ‘true depth and spirit of the sport’ as well as the ‘intensity of its high-stakes moments’. 

Following its release, however, any hope that Polo would join the ranks of great sport documentaries such as Disney +’s Welcome to Wrexham and 2020’s The Last Dance, were quickly dashed – with critics largely panning the ‘boring’ series. 

Receiving two stars or less out of five across the board, the programme has been labelled ‘a tedious inside-look at posh polo’ and a ‘mostly boring look at a sport that very few people outside of elite circles have any particular interest in’. 

Harry and Meghan, who served as executive producers of the series, make a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in the documentary, with fans having to wait until episode five to catch a glimpse of the couple. 

The Telegraph’s Ed Power noted there was ‘not enough of the Sussexes to make this anything other than a dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit’.

Earlier this month, it was revealed Prince Harry and Meghan will not be joining the royal family for Christmas this year as they have reportedly not been invited to the festivities.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex haven’t received an invitation to the royals’ Christmas at Sandringham, it has been reported.

They are expected to spend the festive holidays in America instead with their children Archie and Lilibet.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex relocated to Montecito, California, after they stepped down as senior members of The Firm in January 2020. 

Meghan previously revealed how the Sussexes celebrate the holidays in America in an interview with Marie Claire, noting the festivities are always ‘low-key’. 

She said: ‘We’re always making sure we have something to do,’ the Duchess told the magazine. ‘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.’ 

The former Suits actress also stressed the importance of making ‘room at your table for your friends who don’t have family’ such as feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who once joined the Sussexes’ Thanksgiving party.

Meghan, who married Harry in 2018, added it is important to the couple that Archie and Lilibet experience the ‘magic’ of festive traditions such as putting out ‘carrots for the reindeer’ at Christmas.