Meghan shares previously unseen photo of ‘beautiful girl’ Lilibet to celebrate her fourth birthday

Meghan Markle has shared the clearest glimpse of Princess Lilibet since 2022 as she marked her daughter’s fourth birthday with an Instagram post.

The Duchess of Sussex usually only shares photographs of her daughter, who is seventh in line to the throne, pictured from behind to protect her privacy.

But in today’s photo Lili’s eyes and the top half of her face can be seen, with her nose and mouth covered by Meghan’s arms as she hugs the princess.

The Duchess shared the black and white snap of herself cuddling Lilibet, who was sat on her lap, with the pair both sporting windswept hair.

A second image also posted today by Meghan showed her tenderly cradling newborn Lili shortly after her birth in 2021.

Posting at midight California time, she wrote: ‘Happy birthday to our beautiful girl! Four years ago today she came into our lives – and each day is brighter and better because of it. Thanks to all of those sending love and celebrating her special day!’

Meghan and Prince Harry have not shared an official portrait of Lilibet’s face since her first birthday in June 2022 during a picnic at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

Lilibet, who is named her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, was born in Santa Barbara after the couple quit royal life and moved to California.

The Duchess of Sussex shared the black and white photo of herself cuddling Princess Lilibet, who was sat on her lap, with the pair both sporting windswept hair

Harry and Meghan also share six-year-old Prince Archie, who was born at the Portland Hospital in London in May 2019 while the pair were working royals.

The Instagram post by the Duchess today comes just a day after she revealed she is considering going into business with Lilibet in the future.

Meghan spoke during her podcast Confessions of a Female Founder about ‘building something’ with her youngest child.

She made the comment while interviewing 71-year-old fashion designer Tina Knowles, who launched the haircare line Cécred with her daughter Beyoncé last year.

Meghan said in the podcast: ‘I wonder if one day I’ll be in business with Lili and we’ll be building something.’ Knowles added: ‘Yeah, that’s the best.’

Last week, Meghan shared a video of her and Lilibet harvesting honey in matching beekeeping suits.

The Duchess took to Instagram to post the extended video set to The Archies’ hit Sugar, Sugar in a sweet nod to her son Archie.

Her caption read: ‘Look at all of that fresh honeycomb! Harvesting honey with my little honey. (Like mother, like daughter; she’s even wearing my gloves)’

The last official portrait of Princess Lilibet’s face was taken on her first birthday in June 2022

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet in December 2021

The clip began with Meghan and Lilibet walking hand-in-hand towards a beehive while wearing appropriate safety suits.

It then cut to Meghan cutting out a slice of honeycomb before storing it in a glass jar and pouring the freshly-harvested honey over it – not unlike the bottles of wildflower honey sold by her brand As Ever.

The original video included a rare glimpse of Lilibet’s face after she could be seen turning towards her mother.

The pair wore matching outfits in a vast field, but Lilibet accessorised with a pair of adorable rainbow wellies.

They held hands and were filmed from the back walking towards the hive, before Meghan bent down and rubbed her daughter on the back.

Meghan posted the video days after her seven-year wedding anniversary with Harry.

She marked it by posting an image of a cork board covered in photographs of her, Harry and their children.

However, royal fans noticed that Meghan left out a crucial detail about the milestone in her caption for the post.

The Duchess wrote: ‘Seven years of marriage. A lifetime of stories. Thanks to all of you (whether by our side or from afar) who have loved and supported us throughout our love story – we appreciate you. Happy anniversary!’

Meghan shared a video on May 27 of her and Lilibet harvesting honey in beekeeping suits

Meghan shared a picture with Archie and Lilibet to mark Mother’s Day in the US on May 11

Fans noticed the former Suits star failed to name Harry in the post.

Despite the post containing numerous photos of Meghan and Harry together, critics took to X to discuss Meghan’s caption.

The Sussexes, who stepped down as senior members of the British royal family in 2020, have strained relationships on both sides of the family, between Harry’s estrangement from his brother and father and Meghan not on speaking terms with her father Thomas.

Instead, the couple have surrounded their young children with a ‘chosen’ Californian family to dote on them in their Montecito mansion.

Thousands of miles away from their aunt and uncle, the Prince and Princess of Wales – and grandfather King Charles – Archie and Lili are now growing up with a series of ‘surrogate’ relatives after their parents rejected the royals.

Archie and Lilibet also have no relationship with any of the women on Meghan’s side who could be called their aunts. Meghan has one half-sister, Samantha Markle, through her father Thomas Markle Snr’s side – but has cut off ties with both of them.

The Duchess’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jnr has been married twice, but Meghan has also had no relationship with him since well before she wed Harry in 2018.

In a post in April, Meghan was seen smiling and showing her daughter Lilibet a large rose

But it’s not only the couple’s young children who have forged a second family abroad – Prince Harry himself is said to have grown close both to a ‘second father’ in the form of David Foster and ‘second mother’ after his move to the US.

Harry has also formed a close relationship with Doria Ragland – with a royal source revealing that the Duke has grown close to Doria, who has been a ‘tower of strength’ for the couple over the past few years.

Last August, Meghan gushed about her daughter in a speech about ‘Afro women and power’ talk on the final day of her tour in Colombia with Prince Harry.

She said that Lilibet ‘has found her voice and we are so proud of that’ in the speech the Duchess also used to pay tribute to her mother.

Meghan said: ‘For me I find inspiration in so many of the strong women around me. My mother being one of them. Life is full of surprises and can be quite complex. So much of how I approach things is about less of the fight and how do we wash things over with love and kindness and generosity.

‘You see something wrong and you go and fix it. As women we are multi-taskers and fixers. We all know how much representation matters.’

The Duchess also said that as her mother, she is encouraging Lilibet to not ‘sit in silence’.

‘At three she has found her voice and we are so proud of that, because that is how we create the conditions in which there is a ripple effect of young girls and young women knowing that if someone else is encouraging them to use their voice and be heard, that’s what they are going to do,’ she added.