Meghan Markle Shares Family Photos from ‘Summer Holiday,’ Including Archie in the Cockpit and Lilibet’s Pool Flip

NEED TO KNOW

• Meghan Markle shared a rare collection of family photos from the Sussexes’ “summer holiday” on Instagram

• The Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and their children vacationed in Portugal before traveling to the U.K., where they reunited with King Charles and visited Princess Diana’s childhood home

• The snaps capture beach and pool fun, Prince Archie in a plane’s cockpit and a playful moment of Harry tossing Princess Lilibet into the air

Meghan Markle is sharing a glimpse of her family’s “summer holiday.”

On Thursday, July 23, the Duchess of Sussex, 44, shared an Instagram carousel featuring photos with her husband, Prince Harry, 41, and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. She captioned the set simply, “Summer Holiday ☀️.”

The collection spans the family’s travels through Europe, which included stops in Portugal and the U.K. — including a poignant stop at Althorp, Princess Diana’s childhood home and final resting place. The image shows Harry walking with Archie and Lilibet across the estate’s grounds, with both Harry and Archie carrying bouquets of flowers.

Another photo shows the exterior of a restaurant in Portugal’s Alentejo region, where the Sussexes vacationed before their recent visit to Britain. The rest of the carousel captures carefree family moments in the sun, from beach outings to poolside fun. In one playful image, Harry is seen tossing Lilibet into the air, with the camera catching her mid-flight just before she splashes into the pool.

Other snaps show Meghan and Harry laughing over a meal, while another captures Archie in the cockpit of a plane alongside the pilots, wearing a captain’s hat as he reaches for the controls.

Earlier this month, Prince Harry traveled to the U.K. for a series of charity events, including celebrating the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games. It was initially thought that Meghan and the kids would join him, but a public back-and-forth between the prince and palace over security concerns and accommodations left their arrival in question until the very last minute.

Ultimately, Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili traveled to Highgrove House, the monarch’s private country residence in Gloucestershire, England, to reunite with King Charles and Queen Camilla. It was only the third meeting between Harry and Charles since the King’s 2024 cancer diagnosis, and the first time the monarch had visited with his grandchildren in more than four years.

“One of the strangenesses of the monarchy is that we are all encouraged to forget they’re human beings because they’re representatives of the institution,” royal author Catherine Mayer told PEOPLE about the reunion for an exclusive cover story. “But at its heart it is just a family—and this family has gone through extraordinary upheavals. Whatever you think of the monarchy, this is a moment most of us wanted to see happen.”

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Another one of Meghan’s photos shows the family’s visit to Althorp, the ancestral home of Princess Diana, and the place where she is buried.

The slide shows Lilibet, Archie and Harry from behind, with the Duke of Sussex and his son carrying flowers, on the grounds of Althorp.

In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Prince Harry wrote about bringing Meghan to visit his mother’s gravesite for the first time in 2022. The late princess is laid to rest on an island at the center of the ornamental lake known as The Round Oval within Althorp Park’s Pleasure Garden, and he reflects on rowing out to the site, “bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet mum.’”

“We hesitated, hugging, and then I went first. I placed flowers on the grave. Meg gave me a moment, and I spoke to my mother in my head, told her I missed her, asked her for guidance and clarity,” Harry wrote. “Feeling that Meg might also want a moment, I went around the hedge, scanned the pond. When I came back, Meg was kneeling, eyes shut, palms against the stone.”

“I asked, as we walked back to the boat, what she’d prayed for,” he added. “Clarity, she said. And guidance.”

Read the original article on People