Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reveal Rare Clip of Archie and Lilibet Doing Holiday Charity Work Near Their Montecito Mansion

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have shared a glimpse inside their whirlwind 2025 in a new holiday video released via their charitable foundation, Archewell, while simultaneously announcing that the organization has been renamed "Archewell Philanthropies."

In lieu of a traditional Christmas card, Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, instead released a video montage of the various projects that their charity has been involved in over the past 12 months, including footage of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, helping to prepare Thanksgiving meals at Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles (OBKLA).

The clip shows Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, both wearing aprons and hair coverings while helping their parents to push a large wheelie trolley packed with different dishes.

"On behalf of the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Archewell, we wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyful new year," a greeting shared alongside the video read.

The release of the video came as it was claimed that Harry and Meghan are planning to celebrate the holiday season at their $14.65 million Montecito mansion—rather than traveling to the U.K. to be with the rest of the royal family.

Harry and Meghan have famously been estranged from the Duke of Sussex's relatives since 2020, when they stepped down from their roles as senior working royals—before airing their many grievances against the British monarchy in a bombshell interview with their Montecito neighbor, Oprah Winfrey.

Their interview was followed by a Netflix documentary and Harry's tell-all book, "Spare," all of which saw the couple making several sensational claims about their treatment by the royals.

Relations were further impacted when Harry launched a legal appeal to challenge a decision made by the U.K. government to strip him of his taxpayer-funded security in his home country.

That rift showed signs of a thaw when Harry reunited with his father, King Charles, for a brief meeting in September, marking the first time that the father and son had seen one another in 19 months.

But that interaction, which is said to have been very positive, doesn't appear to have repaired the relationship enough to result in a shared Christmas celebration—with the rest of the royal family, including Harry's brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Princess Kate, expected to attend their traditional gathering at Sandringham.

Meanwhile, according to Hello!, Harry and Meghan are believed to be hunkering down with their kids at their sprawling Montecito abode, which they purchased for $14.65 million in 2020, soon after moving to the U.S. from the U.K.

The Duchess of Sussex has shared several insights into what those celebrations might look like while sharing some hosting tips via her lifestyle brand, As Ever.

One of those pieces of advice proved somewhat divisive with critics—who called Meghan out for her use of store-bought pancakes while detailing her favorite way to serve up a festive breakfast.

In a video posted to the Instagram account for her lifestyle brand, Meghan explained that her favorite way to create a stress-free breakfast setup in her home is to create "stations" in the kitchen that guests can frequent at their leisure.

The clip, which was captioned "Because you don’t need to stress to impress," does not appear to have been filmed in her home, but was meant to mimic the setup that Meghan uses when hosting her own guests.

It saw Meghan making her way around a kitchen, which had been littered with different dishes in various displays.

"What I like to do when I have guests over for the holidays, especially when you have a lot of people and everyone has a different preference for breakfast, you just create stations, and they can help themselves," she explained in the video.

At the first station, Meghan set up the ingredients for a "yogurt parfait," which included plain yogurt, berries, granola, and several As Ever products, including honey and fruit spreads.

The mother of two was seen decanting the As Ever raspberry and strawberry spreads into a vintage glass serving dish, noting that this is "actually a really nice way to add to a yogurt parfait station."

She is then seen spooning the various ingredients into long-stemmed coupe glasses, admitting that, while a "normal bowl" would suffice for serving, she prefers glassware because it helps her to make the dish "a little bit more special."

Moving on, she heads to the pancake and waffle section—which she has set up much like a traditional charcuterie board, with the various ingredients spread out on a wooden serving platter.

In an attempt to make the setup seem a little more easy-breezy, Meghan insists that this station can be made that much more stress-free if you use store-bought pancakes.

"All of this is great for kids [and] if you don't want to make pancakes, don't make pancakes," she explains.

"You just get the ones from the freezer section!" she adds in a hushed tone.

She makes a similar suggestion when it comes to the breakfast quiche that she then pulls out of the oven. The dish is one of her "favorite" things to serve to a large group, she explains, before noting that, once again, hosts can rely on a ready-made version if they want to make their lives even easier.

However, her touting of ready-made dishes sparked ire among critics, who called the former "Suits" star out for "crimes against breakfast." Some voiced confusion over why she would suggest using store-bought versions of items that are "so easy" to make at home.

While the comments were turned off on the As Ever account, several people took to a Reddit thread dedicated to observations about the video, where they aired their grievances about Meghan's hosting tips.

"I'm not a great cook, but quiche and pancakes are so easy to make," one person wrote. "Why is she talking about buying them pre-made? On a cooking show? I'd rather MAKE breakfast than waste time putting jam into other containers."

Another called attention to the fact that As Ever actually had a pancake mix in its lineup of products, noting: "This would've been the perfect opportunity for her to show her using her own pancake mix to whip up homemade, and demonstrate how quick and easy it is."

"Can you imagine Martha Stewart saying, 'You can just buy frozen' at the same time she was trying to establish her lifestyle empire?" one person questioned.

Some voiced concern over the fact that many ready-made dishes are "filled with horrible preservatives and other junk," questioning why someone who seems "so health-conscious" would promote this kind of product.

Others, meanwhile, took issue with Meghan's decision to serve her yogurt parfait in such delicate glassware, cautioning that these kinds of vessels are not appropriate for children.

"I can't get over Meghan dumping yoghurt and fruit into crystal dessert glasses, before saying, 'All of this is great for kids,'" one wrote.

Another added: "I'm sorry—did she say that serving yogurt parfaits in glass champagne coupes is PERFECT FOR KIDS? That's a recipe for a bunch of broken glass."