Meghan Markle kids

Meghan Markle pictured in ultra-rare photo from when she was Princess Lilibet's age

Prince Harry and Meghan are doting parents to Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie

Deputy Online Editor
February 22, 2024

A new never-before-seen photograph of Meghan Markle has been released – and she looks very angelic. The precious childhood picture appears to have been taken when she was her daughter Princess Lilibet's age. 

In the image, the Duchess of Sussex is dressed in a pretty white outfit and matching sandals whilst posing in a garden next to a swing. 

Meghan Markle looking adorable in a white dress© DailyMail.com
Meghan Markle looking adorable in a white dress

In another photo, it was clear to see that the royal mother shares an incredible likeness with her four-year-old son Prince Archie. The snap pictured a very sweet baby Meghan looking at the camera wearing a black hoodie. 

The photos were shared by Meghan's cousin, Shawn Johnson, 43, who spoke to DailyMail.com about his childhood growing up around Meghan.

"She was always really sweet," Shawn told the newspaper. "She was kind and she always had a star quality about her.

"She was infectious with just the way she was and really mature for her age. She was always really looking after us and making sure that we're all doing fine."

Embroiderer and graphic designer Shawn lives in California, just as his cousin Meghan does, but he admitted they haven't seen each other in almost two decades. Shawn is the son of Meghan's uncle on her mother's side, Joseph Johnson. 

Princess Lilibet turns three this year

Meghan's childhood was spent mostly with her mother Doria Ragland after she and her father Thomas Markle divorced when Meghan was just two. 

Meghan - who now shares two children with husband Prince Harry - has previously opened up before about being a "latchkey kid," which essentially means when a child would return to an empty home and let themselves in.

"I was alone so much as a child, right, and also a latchkey kid, and I think I read a lot of Archie comic books ironically. My son is not named after Archie comic books, but I loved them. I collected them," Meghan revealed on her Archetypes podcast. 

WATCH: Princess Lilibet pulls endless faces in precious rare clip

In another episode, the former actress made a confession about an element which was missing from her childhood. "I wasn't really a science kind of girl growing up, I loved cooking, gardening, writing letters, I mean not much has changed with any of that," she said. 

"During my childhood, STEM wasn't something I ever remember people talking about, let alone STEAM. "I love that is what kids, especially girls are encouraged to sink their teeth into today. As a kid in the 80s, that wasn't what I was exposed to." 

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics, subjects which Meghan says she was less exposed to while growing up.

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