Even when your parents are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, sometimes you don’t get all that you want for Christmas.

Prince Archie, now 6, can attest. When he was 4 years old in November 2023, his mom Meghan Markle shared an anecdote about a gift her son wanted—but one that, ultimately, he didn’t get, “not even for Christmas.”

In addition to Archie, Meghan and her husband Prince Harry are also parents to daughter Princess Lilibet, 4. The As Ever founder opened up about Archie’s vetoed gift request at a Netflix event two years ago, when she moderated a Q&A session with actor David Oyelowo and photographer Misan Harriman, who also directed the Netflix short film The After (which Oyelowo starred in). Harriman has been a longtime photographer and friend of Harry and Meghan, and, as People pointed out, Harriman took the first birthday portrait of Lilibet in 2022 when she and the rest of the Sussexes attended Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee that June.

Archie is a big fan of Harriman’s work, and “The inspiration runs deep,” Meghan said at the Netflix event in 2023. “Our 4-year-old, 4 ½-year-old son—he would say, ‘No, I’m not 4, I’m 4½’—Misan was showing him how to do photography the last time he was with us, and I bought Archie a camera, and he said, ‘But it’s not a Leica like Misan.’”

Laughing, she continued, “I said, ‘You are not getting a Leica! Not even for Christmas.’ So, thank you for the inspiration across the board.”

Leica cameras retail for thousands of dollars, so it makes sense why Meghan wouldn’t want to give such an extravagant gift to a then-4 1⁄2-year-old. That said, for Christmas in 2023—and in 2025, for that matter—there’s no doubt that Archie and Lilibet had plenty of gifts waiting for them under the Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, Meghan sent an email to her As Ever followers that detailed how she and Harry had spent Christmas Eve doing “anything to maintain the morning magic of Christmas through our children’s eyes.”

“I plan to spend today cuddled up with my family—maybe pajamas all day,” she continued, adding that there would also be board games and “music playing, candles flickering, dogs snoring, endless grazing; the laughter, the sidebars, the deep breaths (you know the ones), the fun, and the memories.”

“I hope that whether you’re cozied up in your pajamas like we are, or dressed to the nines, whether you’re with a huge gathering, with your partner, your kids, or on your own—wherever you happen to find yourself today reading this note—that you know I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the blessings that come with it,” she wrote.