After a controversy-plagued 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are hoping to end this year on a happy note.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have several reasons to look forward to 2021, considering this year didn’t go too well for the couple. Amid all the challenges they have been facing after stepping down as the senior members of the royal family earlier this year, it appears that the pair has big plans for Christmas.
If reports doing the rounds online are anything to go by, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are gearing up to celebrate Christmas for the first time away from the British royal family, in their luxurious new home. A source told PEOPLE that the pair will be staying in their Montecito home, and are “excited to decorate for Christmas.”
“They are very happy,” the insider said. “Archie is thriving and growing quickly. As a family, they spend hours outside.”
Aside from celebrating Thanksgiving at their new home in Montecito this week, the family also celebrated Halloween by taking their son, Archie trick-or-treating. The Mirror had previously reported that the couple will celebrate Christmas by hosting the dinner at their home, inviting producer David Foster and his wife, singer Katherine McPhee.
“Meghan very much wants to host the first Christmas at their new home with her mum. She’s really excited and planning on doing all the traditions she grew up with as a child, including the cooking,” an insider told Mirror. “They’ve also invited David and Katharine to spend it with them. David had mentioned Harry and Meghan going to theirs but Meghan wants it at home. They want to get on with their new lives. Christmas with Harry’s family is not in the plan,” the source added.
The former Suits actress was born and raised in Los Angeles. She and Prince Harry moved to California in Mar. after leaving their roles as senior working members of the royal family. They reportedly shelled out $14 million for their nine-bedroom mansion, which is also their permanent home.
“They both love California, and Santa Barbara has a magic to it — the mountains, oceans, vineyards, flowers, gardens,” said a source close to the couple. “It’s so beautiful,” the source said. Soon after moving to Montecito, Meghan and Harry suffered a difficult loss. In an emotional article in the New York Times, Meghan said she suffered a miscarriage in July.
“Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few,” she wrote. Christmas will be different from the entire royal family due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, and several events including the annual Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in London have already been called off as Queen Elizabeth and husband Prince Philip are quarantining at Windsor Castle.
