Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Eventful Year: From Moving to California to Baby No. 2

Christmas 2019

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and an 8-month-old baby Archie celebrated their first Christmas as a family of three in Canada, sharing this adorable snapshot (with a charitable angle!) while looking back at their eventful 2019. Weeks later, they would declare their intent to step back from their roles as senior royals.

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Goodbye, Royal Roles

The couple made one last royal appearance at the Military Music Festival in London on March 7, 2020, before returning to North America to prep for their late-March move to L.A.

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Baby Love

In April, Prince Harry extolled the silver linings of the COVID lockdown: plenty of family time. The couple gave well-wishers a glimpse of that time with a cute video of Meghan reading a book (complete with an Oprah’s Book Club sticker — the perks of having famous family friends!) to their newly-minted one-year-old.

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Fun to Be One

The proud mom shared a smile — and her son’s nickname — in the video. The family celebrated with “smash cake and zooms,” with cake provided by Meghan and decor by Harry. 

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Speaking Up

The couple made a few Zoom appearances to their patronages in the early months of COVID, but in June, Meghan appeared to give a surprise commencement speech to her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School in L.A.

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, she gave an emotional speech about the difficult world the students would inherit, saying, “I wasn’t sure what I could say to you … I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn’t, or that it would get picked apart. And I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing because George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered, and so did so many other people whose names we know and whose names we do not know.”

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Rolling Up Their Sleeves

They may have been “just Meghan and Harry” while volunteering in June with Homeboy Industries, which helps formerly incarcerated people deliver meals to food-insecure seniors and youth, but they were also making some major professional moves behind the scenes, signing with a speaking agency that same month.

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Settling In

In August, the couple confirmed that they had moved into their new home in Santa Barbara, about 100 miles north of L.A. On one of his calls, Harry said they felt “unbelievably fortunate” to have the outdoor space for their son. 

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California Girls

In August, Meghan and Gloria Steinem had a backyard chat — chic hats, dog cameos and all — to discuss the importance of voting.

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Here to Help

The couple volunteered their time for several charities, including helping deliver baby supplies for Baby2Baby in August.

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Showing Strength

The couple helped kit kids out with school supplies at the Baby2Baby event. Several months later, Meghan would write an essay for the New York Times revealing that she had experienced a miscarriage just weeks before this appearance.

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Digging In

In September, the couple marked the 23rd anniversary of his mother Princess Diana’s death by planting her favorite flower, forget-me-nots, at an L.A. preschool.

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Dynamic Duo

On Voter Registration Day, the couple urged Americans to have their voices heard in the upcoming presidential election.

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It’s Time

For the Time 100, the couple posed for an official portrait, shot at their home in California, that recalled their engagement photo. 

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Family First

While speaking with activist Malala Yousafzai about the importance of girls’ education for the International Day of the Girl, the couple gave a glimpse into their life at home. 

“We were both there for his first steps,” Harry said of son Archie. “His first run, his first fall, his first everything.”

“In so many ways we are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow, and in the absence of COVID, we would be traveling and working more,” Meghan added. “We’d miss a lot of those moments.”

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Cute Cameo

While recording a conversation about structural racism in Britain with the U.K.’s Evening Standard, the couple’s pup Guy jumped in for a moment.

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Happy Holidays

The couple’s 2020 Christmas card, an illustration of a photo taken by Meghan’s mom Doria Ragland, confirmed that Archie is a redhead like his dad. 

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Sharing the Love

On Valentine’s Day 2020, Meghan and Harry shared the happy news that Archie is going to be a big brother via a romantic black-and-white shot taken remotely via iPad. 

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