Meghan Markle shares never-before-seen snap of Prince Archie as he turns six

Meghan a never-before-seen picture of as the youngster marks his sixth birthday today. The adorable snap posted on Instagram shows Archie stood from behind as he watches a vibrant orange sunset, with the caption: "Our son. Our sun."

Archie's birthday comes as dad looks set to miss out on any celebrations today as he prepares to head to Las Vegas to launch a new youth initiative with the Diana Award. But mum Meghan added in her caption of the photo that they had a party for the youngster last weekend, adding: "Happy 6th birthday to Archie! Thank you for all of the love, prayers, and warm wishes for our sweet boy. He’s six! Where did the time go? (And for all of you who came to celebrate with us at his party last weekend, thank you for making his birthday so incredibly special)."

It comes as Harry will take part in a conversation later today with two young people, who are holders of The Legacy Award in memory of his late mother. Las Vegas was famously the destination of Harry’s raucous road trip in 2012. The escapade ended with photos of the naked prince, who was frolicking with a woman in his hotel room after a game of strip billiards, being splashed on front pages of newspapers around the and on celebrity gossip websites.

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Thirteen years later, Harry will be in the Nevada city launching the Pledge To Invest drive, which aims to put a spotlight on the future of youth leadership and how forward-thinking businesses can support it. He will chat with Sikander “Sonny” Khan, from Michigan in the US, and Christina Williams, from Jamaica, as well as Paul Fipps, of Service Now, at the Knowledge 2025 event.

But despite Harry's trip, former royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes the Sussexes will have still ensured Archie had an incredible birthday celebration. She told the : "I’m sure Harry and Meghan will make his birthday magical, and Meghan will obviously make it all very pretty and tasteful as well!"

However, any celebration will be filled with sadness, given that Harry's father, the King, will almost certainly not be involved in any celebrations. Just last week, in his interview with the BBC, Harry laid bare the stark nature of his relationship with the King.

Harry claimed his father, who is being treated for cancer, will not speak to him, and he does not know "how much longer my father has" as he spoke of his hopes for a "reconciliation". The interview came after losing his Court of Appeal challenge over his security arrangements, and he said he "can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK."

The stand-off between father and son means that, since Archie and, indeed, younger sister Princess Lilibet, have not spent much time with their grandfather. However, it wasn't always such a fraught relationship - especially with Archie - with the King saying he "couldn't be more delighted" when he was born in May 2019. When he was christened, the King's former Clarence House account shared a touching photo of Charles proudly gazing at Archie.

However, as Harry and Meghan decided to dramatically quit as working royals and up sticks from the UK and move to the United States in early 2020, the King has spent little time with his young grandson. Their last meeting was in 2022 when Archie came to the UK with his parents during the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

And Jennie believes it is still a "great sadness" for the King to be a stranger to his two grandchildren, as well as it seems these days to his youngest son, Harry. She says: "He always loved Harry – he called him 'darling boy'. And I’m sure he still loves Harry and would love even more to be able to spend time with Archie and Lilibet.

"Charles is a sentimental man and a doting grandfather to George, Charlotte and Louis. And I’m sure as his struggle with cancer continues, he thinks more about the great loss of not being able to spend time with Harry’s children.

"It would be very nice if the King, and William and Catherine, marked young Archie‘s sixth birthday in some way. After all, it’s not the poor little lad’s fault that all this has happened. So I hope that, either publicly or privately, they do at least send the little boy their good wishes."

Archie is Harry and Meghan's oldest child and is sixth in line to the throne. He was born on May 6, 2019 at the private Portland Hospital in London, weighing 7lb 3oz. He was christened Archie Harrison at a private chapel in Windsor several months later, with his middle name honouring his father, Harry.