10 Times We Got A Glimpse Of Lilibet & Archie's Vibrant Red Hair

The red hair gene doesn't feature prominently within the British royal family, but Prince Harry more than made up for it. The Duke of Sussex proved that he carried the recessive gene so strongly that he managed to pass it along to not one but both of his children. Did Meghan Markle's brunette genes even try? Clearly not hard enough, because Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie both have matching red hair, albeit in different tones. Lilibet has fiery-red long hair, while Archie boasts a deep, copper shade.

Lilibet and Archie seem to have taken after their late paternal grandmother's family. While she herself was blond, Princess Diana's sister, Sarah Spencer, and her brother, Charles Spencer, were redheads. The family resemblance isn't lost on Harry. "The ginger gene is a strong one," he laughed on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2023. "The Spencer gene is very, very strong." Harry was as surprised as anyone else that both of his children turned out to be redheads. "I actually really, genuinely thought at the beginning of my relationship that, should this go the distance and we have kids, that there's no way the ginger gene will stand up to my wife's genes, but I was wrong," he said.

Wrong indeed. And he isn't mad about it. "Go gingers," he joked. Meghan doesn't seem mad, either. While Harry and Meghan avoid sharing Lilibet and Archie's faces on social media, she sometimes shares glimpses of them from behind. And they almost always highlight their vibrant red hair. 

In July 2026, Meghan Markle shared snippets from her family's summer vacation on Instagram that featured the bunch having a ball in southern Portugal. They included snaps of Princess Lilibet running behind her older brother and father. As she did so, her vibrant red hair flew in the sun, which gave her locks a golden hue. Similarly, Prince Archie was captured from behind in an overgrown garden during sunset, with the orange sun rays bouncing off of his own fiery hair. The difference in their hair shades was put on blast here!

In early June 2026, Meghan Markle showed she was more than ready for the warm days of summer. In an Instagram carousel, the Duchess of Sussex shared pictures of her family hanging around in their California home. She included two pictures of her children, one showing Prince Archie playing with a giant soccer ball with Prince Harry. He had his back to the camera, but the sun reflected against his auburn hair. Another picture focused on Princess Lilibet's Beyoncé-themed T-shirt, though it showed strands of her red hair falling over her shoulder.

On June 4, 2026, Princess Lilibet turned 5, and Meghan Markle couldn't let the big day go without a celebratory post on Instagram. To mark her baby girl's birthday, Meghan shared a couple of sweet snaps that, as usual, hid Lilibet's face. On the other hand, her striking red hair was on full display in both. In the first, she was in Prince Harry's arms, showing the similarity between her hair tone and her father's. The second picture showed Lilibet touching a flower outside with her hair partially concealing her face.

It doesn't take being outside to see the vibrancy of Princess Lilibet's red hair. A picture Meghan Markle posted in May 2026 showed that her hair is just as bright in indoor lighting. Meghan took a mirror selfie in a walk-in closet that showed the Duchess of Sussex in a lilac-colored trench coat as Lilibet, sitting on her heels, appeared to help her mother with her shoes. She had on a red dress with a matching scrunchie that softened the red in her hair, making the orange and blond hues stand out instead.

Before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left royal life in January 2020, their son, Prince Archie, had made a few public appearances, as was expected from working royals. In those early months, he was a bald little thing, so it was hard to gauge what hair color he would end up having. But it turns out that the newborn hair he had grown was already red. To celebrate Archie's 7th birthday, Meghan shared a picture of the tiny babe on Harry's chest, which showed that it was evident from the get-go that he had inherited his father's ginger genes. 

On February 14, 2026, Meghan Markle celebrated Valentine's Day by giving a shoutout to her favorite people on Instagram. While she shared just a picture of Prince Harry holding a ballerina dress-clad Princess Lilibet, Meghan included her son in the caption. "These two + Archie = my forever Valentines," she wrote. The snapshot was taken at sunset, when the light was already fading on the horizon. And yet, Lilibet's hair was as red as ever. Next to her father, the similarities between her hair color and Harry's are undeniable. 

Meghan Markle frequently celebrates Princess Lilibet on days dedicated to women and girls, which usually gives her fans a chance to see her gorgeous hair. In October 2025, the Duchess of Sussex marked the International Day of the Girl with a short clip of Lilibet running on grass followed by a picture of her by a pond next to her mother. Lilibet stood with her back to the camera in a pink outfit with her striking red hair in a half-ponytail that fell in waves against her back. 

Meghan Markle has two great little helpers in Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. When she filmed Season 2 of "With Love, Meghan," she took her children along. Meghan shared a series of pictures from the set in September 2025, and Lilibet and Archie's hair totally stole the show. In one snap, brother and sister sat with headphones in as they watched their mother on a screen. They were outside, and their red hair just shone. In fact, the picture here shows how deeply red Archie's hair actually is.

Having launched her Instagram in January 2025, Meghan Markle was slow to start posting more content featuring Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. April 2025 marked the first time we actually got to see just how strikingly red her kids' hair was. She shared a couple of snapshots from a slow Sunday spent at home, featuring Lilibet and Archie helping with the rose bush. The sun was shining bright, making their vibrant red locks stand out. The pictures showcased the differences in Lilibet's golden red compared to Archie's vibrant copper tone. 

In March 2025, Meghan Markle shared the first picture featuring Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie on Instagram as she launched her lifestyle brand, As Ever. "Every day is a love story," she captioned the post jointly shared with the As Ever page. The picture showed Meghan from behind as she held Lilibet on her hip while Archie wrapped himself around her opposite leg. Lilibet wore a straw hat matching her mother's, but strands of vibrant red hair slipped out from underneath it. And Archie's deep red hair reflected the setting sunlight.