Meghan Markle and Prince Harry prepare for happy family occasion ahead of imminent UK visit
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were last seen in public earlier this month, as they travelled to New York, alongside Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, to attend the Woman of Vision Awards 2023, where the mother-of-two was honoured with a prestigious award.
Since then, and after being involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi photographers, the couple have not been seen and have likely been spending family quality time in their Montecito mansion.
Meghan, however, will no doubt have been preparing for a very special occasion that takes place this week – Princess Lilibet's second birthday.
The Duchess is known for perfectly preparing for any celebration and in her and Harry's Netflix docu-series, Harry & Meghan, she was often seen setting up for parties or preparing fun activities such as an Easter egg hunt.
Birthdays are very important for the Sussexes. Earlier this month, Prince Harry showcased just how important his children's birthdays are as he attended his father's coronation and flew out of the UK straight after the ceremony to make it in time to spend quality time with his son, Prince Archie, on his fourth birthday, which fell on Charles' big day.
While the couple will no doubt have a special day prepared for their only daughter, it will be a very different affair to her first birthday party, which took place in the UK.
In 2022, the family-of-four travelled to London to attend the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and the Sussexes took the opportunity to throw their daughter an intimate backyard picnic at their Frogmore Cottage home.
Only a select few attended the private affair, including Meghan and Harry's good friend Misan Harriman, who took Lilibet's first official birthday portraits on the day.
At the time, not much transpired of the family occasion, but fans did get a good look at Lilibet's incredibly special birthday cake.
Just days after Lili's party, baker Claire Ptak, who made Harry and Meghan's wedding cake in 2018, revealed she had created a stunning pink cake for the toddler.
"It was an absolute pleasure to make this special cake last week for Lilibet's birthday. Wishing her a very happy year ahead!" Claire wrote on her Instagram at the time.
Claire shared that she made the same lemon and elderflower cake she created for Meghan and Harry's royal wedding, but for little Lili, she used strawberry buttercream frosting.
Back in December, after the release of the couple's Netflix docu-series, fans were treated to a short video, which you can see below, taken at the private party, which showed Meghan helping Lilibet blow out the candles on her first birthday cake, as Archie climbs on the table to join in on the fun.
The clip also gave a sneak peek at the guest list, and showed Meghan's close friend Misha Nonoo in attendance. At the time, it was reported that Zara and Mike Tindall, along with their three children, Mia, Lena, and Lucas, as well as Peter Phillips and his daughters Savannah and Isla, were also in attendance.
Following Lili's big day, Prince Harry will prepare to return to the UK to give evidence regarding his claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering.
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