All The Ways Lilibet Has Changed Since Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Left Royal Life Behind

When Princess Lilibet was born, it was obvious her life would look very different than her brother, Prince Archie's, did when he was a newborn. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's abrupt exit from the U.K. was yet to occur when the little prince arrived, and the couple therefore had to follow various royal protocols, like officially introducing Archie to the world in a special photocall and holding a very public christening ceremony. None of this happened with Lilibet, with the royal defectors doing things their own way after relocating to the United States. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued this trend as Lilibet and her brother get older. 

Likewise, Meghan and Harry have been very intentional about raising their kids in as normal an environment as possible. "I've said before that I've wanted a family, not an institution," Harry told People in 2023, noting that, even though his two children were growing up far away from the pomp and circumstance of the monarchy, he has made sure they forged relationships with some of his extended family across the pond. "I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy," Harry opined. 

The Sussexes have been fiercely protective of their children's privacy, never showing their faces in social media posts, except when they were babies, so the glimpses the public have gotten of Lilibet have been rare. In fact, no one really knows what she looks like. But the little princess sure has changed a lot since her parents left royal life behind, and it's prevalent in some of the discreet snaps Meghan has shared of Lilibet online.

Princess Lilibet is unlikely to remember her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. They only met once, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle briefly returned to the U.K. for the queen's Platinum Jubilee, in June 2022. At the time, Lilibet technically wasn't officially a princess. That only happened after Queen Elizabeth II's heartbreaking death. Since Lilbet was the queen's great-grandchild, she didn't automatically get the title of princess at birth (exceptions were made for Prince William and Princess Catherine's children because he's the heir). The beloved monarch's grandchildren get these titles automatically, however, so when King Charles III ascended the throne, Lilibet automatically became a princess. 

Of course, she was too young at the time to really understand what that meant. While Lilibet's fifth birthday pictures highlighted the stark difference between her life and Princess Charlotte's, some royal rules still apply to her, should she ever find herself in the company of certain family members. When royals turn five, they're expected to start curtsying to the monarch and their spouse; in this case Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla. Even though she lives on another continent, Lilibet can't escape those pesky rules.

Royal watchers might not be able to see Princess Lilibet's face in the few photographs Meghan Markle has shared online, but there are plenty of other things they've spotted, like how much the little girl's hair has grown, and the fact that she seems to have gotten a few inches taller every time a new picture hits the internet. Back in August 2025, the Duchess of Sussex shared a clip of her daughter excitedly running to inspect a big, framed photograph of her and her dog, Guy, which Prince Harry had placed in the kitchen as a surprise for his wife. The mini royal, then 4 years old, was definitely taller, and she wore her red hair long. 

Fast-forward to February 2026, and Meghan shared some more discreet snaps of her to Instagram, this time in honor of Valentine's Day. One photo (above) showed Harry holding Lilibet in his arms, with the princess noticeably a lot taller than she'd been in previous pics. Dressed in ballet clothes, she held red balloons, her long legs wrapped around his waist. "These two + Archie = my forever Valentines," Meghan sweetly captioned the shot.

Since Princess Lilibet is growing up far away from strict royal customs and protocols, she has a lot more freedom than her cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. In photographs her mother, Meghan Markle, shared of the princess online, Lilibet typically wears ordinary, everyday (but still adorable) clothes. She even has a T-shirt that hints she's a big Beyoncé fan. The plain white shirt features a drawing of the iconic singer wearing earrings embossed with the words "Queen Bey" and the slogan reads "B is for Beyoncé." For her fifth birthday, Meghan posted Lilibet in a cute dress on Instagram. Even in Father's Day pictures she shared of the little girl and her older brother, Prince Archie, hugging their father, Prince Harry, Lilibet is wearing pretty but ordinary clothes one would expect to see on any little girl. She's also notably barefoot.

This stands in stark contrast with the clothes Prince William and Princess Catherine's three kids are usually seen wearing in public. They're generally dressed in more formal wear, and they've never walked London's streets barefoot (understandable). It simply isn't becoming of a royal — even when they're kids. However, behind the scenes, the Wales brood does get to be relatively normal. In a snap William and Catherine shared to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, they're all dressed in casual clothes — and they're all barefoot. But unlike Lilibet, who gets to dress like this all the time, George, Charlotte, and Louis only get to do so when they're not out and about in the public eye.

Princess Lilibet might be royal by birth, but she knows very little about The Firm, given that she's growing up in the United States and not in the halls of the palace. Sure, she got to spend her first birthday at Frogmore Cottage in 2022, but given that Lilibet was still so little at the time, she probably doesn't even remember it. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shared a photo of their daughter that was taken on the day, and she looked every bit the royal (though her style is now much more casual). As rumors swirled that Lilibet might return to the U.K. with her family for a brief visit, sources dished to Hello! magazine that the youngsters were excited to meet their beloved grandfather, King Charles III, again. 

However, they reportedly have no real understanding of who he actually is. "The truth is they don't really have any concept about who they (the royal family) are, their parents are very good at keeping them away from it all so they live as normal little kids," the source disclosed. On July 10, 2026, Lilibet and Prince Archie officially got to meet their grandfather again after four years of being apart from The Firm. Let's hope they remembered to curtsy!