An artist who created an adorable piece based on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2021 Christmas card has expressed her shock after royal fans spotted it has pride of place in the Duke’s office.
Jennifer Vallez, who specialises in sketches of the Royal Family, posted on Instagram after a screenshot from an old video of Prince Harry resurfaced.
An eagle-eyed royal fan posted the screenshot on X/Twitter and noted the piece of art in a frame on the shelf behind Harry in the study of his Montecito mansion. It is unclear when the video was filmed.
It was accompanied by other sweet tributes to the Duke’s family, including a black-and-white photo of Prince Archie, and another snap from Harry and Meghan’s engagement photoshoot.
After the royal fan spotted Jennifer’s sketch, the chuffed artist revealed she sent the couple the sketch around a year ago – and confirmed they didn’t ask for any freebies.
Eagle-eyed royal fans have spotted a sweet sketch on Prince Harry’s shelf which is a depiction of the Sussexes’ 2021 Christmas card
Writing on Instagram, Jennifer said: ‘Omg. I am DYING!!!! A year or so ago, Meghan’s assistant requested prints of some of the drawings I created of her and Harry.
‘I never expected to see that they REALLY have them in their house.’
Many people left comments underneath the post congratulating Jennifer on her work and gushing over the ‘adorable’ piece.
In a post on her Instagram story on her other account, @sophieandlili, Jennifer confirmed that the Sussexes had paid in full for the sketch, after some people had asked if it was a freebie.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet featured in the adorable photo from 2021
She revealed: ‘I’ll just say that no one on M’s team asked for anything for free.’
As she replied to congratulatory comments, Jennifer said: ‘I knew [Meghan] had them because she sent a beautiful thank you card, but you just never know if they actually frame anything. I’m honored.’
In a further post, the artist revealed she sent a number of sketches over to the Sussexes, which included depictions of Meghan with her mother Doria, the couple’s stunning outdoor photoshoot to announce the Duchess’s second pregnancy, and an official royal photo from Prince Archie’s Christening.
Other sketches in her portfolio include sweet depictions of the Princess of Wales, King Charles and Queen Camilla, and Princess Anne.
This week, the Sussexes released a video clip from a mental health summit they hosted last year, in which they highlight their concerns about young people having social media.
The clip, filmed on their World Mental Health Day discussion in New York on October 10, was released in light of a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child safety which saw Mark Zuckerberg apologise to families who claim social media contributed to their children’s suicides.
In the video – released with a statement on online child safety – Meghan says: ‘When the car was first invented, there wasn’t a seatbelt. And what happened? People started to get hurt, people started to die. So you started to change the car.’
Harry says: ‘We need to get out of this idea that young kids, there’s something wrong with them. No, it’s the world that we’re allowing to be created around them. Please stop sending children content that you wouldn’t want your own children to see.’
And Meghan adds: ‘Everyone now is affected by the online world and social media. There is an entry point that’s positive and creative community, but we all just want to feel safe.’
The couple described the hearing on online child safety as being ‘in front of a packed room including dozens of parents whose children have suffered or died due to online harms’.
They added that their Archewell Foundation has been ‘working with many of these families to provide a support network for parents dealing with grief or who have children managing serious mental health conditions as a result of their exposure to harmful online content’.
In a joint statement accompanying the video on their website, the Sussexes said: ‘We applaud the bravery and determination of the thousands of parents around the country whose advocacy resulted in this hearing.
‘Over the past few years, we have spent time with many of these families, listening to their heartache and their hopes for the urgent change that is needed in the online space.
‘This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing. The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms.
‘As one of the fathers shared with us: “If love could have saved them, all of our children would still be here”.
‘This is not the time to pass the buck of responsibility. It’s the time to make necessary change at the source to keep our children safe.’
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