Steph Deschamps / September 8, 2022
It was in April 2021, a few days after the death of Prince Philip. On that day, it is a photo that remained private until then that is unveiled by the Royal Family. It was taken three years earlier, on the occasion of the Queen's 90th birthday. It shows Elizabeth II with her husband and some of their great-grandchildren. On this picture, taken by Kate Middleton at Balmoral, we discover the faces of Isla and Savannah, Prince Louis (very baby), Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Mia and Lena. But they are not all there: Queen Elizabeth is the grandmother of twelve great-grandchildren.
Who are they? There is of course the future, future heir to the throne, George (9 years old), first child of Kate William. And his brother and sister, Louis and Charlotte. Everyone (or almost) knows the names of the two children of the terrible couple formed by Harry and Meghan: Archi and Lili. But it's not only Prince Charles who has become a grandfather. His siblings and their children have also expanded the Windsor family tree. And the Queen's eldest great-grandchild, Savannah, now 12 years old, is the first daughter of her eldest grandchild, Peter Phillips, himself a son of Princess Anne. Two years after Savannah, her sister Isla was born, with the same little blonde face.
Almost every year brings a new Windsor. A year after George's birth, in 2013, Mia Tindall was born into the home of Zara Phillips, daughter of Anne, and Mike Tindall. Four years later, and while Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at Kate and William's house are cracking the whole of England, Mia becomes big sister to a little Lena.
Now it's Archie's turn, Harry and Meghan's long-awaited offspring, to expand this already long list and almost make us forget the newborns who will follow. August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, first child of Princess Eugenie, and first grandchild of Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Zara and Mike Tindall will welcome another child in 2021, a boy this time, Lucas Philip Tindall.
That was last year, and since then, Queen Elizabeth has again become a great-grandmother twice. Lilibet Diana was born in the United States, where Meghan and Harry now live and, Sienna Elizabeth, daughter of Princess Beatrice (herself a daughter of Andrew). Sadly, her great-grandmother will not celebrate her one-year anniversary on September 18.