The Sweet Way Princess Diana Was Included In Meghan Markle's Mother's Day Photo

One of the sweetest things I noticed this Mother’s Day was a number of people recognizing, on social media, that the holiday isn’t necessarily the happiest day for everyone. People who have lost their mothers, have strained relationships, or who are struggling to conceive might be saddened by the day, and it’s good to acknowledge that. And the same sensitivity extended to the royal family this year when Meghan Markle subtly paid tribute to Princess Diana, whom Prince Harry and Prince William tragically lost in 1997, in her Mother’s Day photo with her newborn son, Archie.

Prince Harry and Markle posted a sweet photo to Instagram showing Markle cradling little Archie’s feet. “Paying tribute to all mothers today - past, present, mothers-to-be, and those lost but forever remembered,” the caption read. Slightly blurred out in the background of the photo are some lovely lavender flowers. And one royal expert noted, according to Town & Country, that they are forget-me-knots, Princess Diana’s favorite flower.

"To mark Mother’s Day in the US, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released this picture of baby Archie’s feet against a backdrop of forget-me-knots, Diana, Princess of Wales’s favourite flowers," Roya Nikkhah, a royal correspondent for The Sunday Times, wrote on Twitter. "Meghan is spending her first US Mother’s Day as a new mother with her mother Doria."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's post went on to note that while it wasn’t Mother’s Day in England — that happened on March 31 this year — it was for a host of other nations.

“We honor and celebrate each and every one of you,” the caption continued. “Today is Mother’s Day in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, Japan, and several countries across Europe.”

Prince Harry and Markle have always worked to keep the memory of his late mother alive — starting with Markle’s engagement ring. According to CBS This Morning, her ring features two diamonds that had belonged to Diana and their wedding was also bedecked with white roses, which were the late royal's favorite rose, royal expert Tina Brown pointed out to the news outlet. Additionally, Prince Harry and Markle included Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, in the ceremony with by having her do a reading, according to The Daily Express.

What's more, Prince Harry and Markle may have also been honoring Princess Diana with Archie's name. According to People, one of Princess Diana’s ancestors was named Archibald Campbell, who was the 9th Earl of Argyll, and hailed from Scotland.

Prince Harry also recently spoke about how he misses Princess Diana. On May 9, three days after Archie's birth, he took a solo trip to the Netherlands and reportedly chatted with a veteran, who spoke to Hello! Magazine about their touching conversation: "He said missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother. He said he meets a lot of people in his work who have lost a mother, father, sister, brother or relatives and when he hears their story, as he heard my story, he said he doesn’t feel so alone."

Undoubtedly the birth of his firstborn has been bittersweet as Prince Harry likely wishes his mother was here to meet his first child. But sweet tributes like this Mother's Day Instagram post show how he and Markle are keeping her memory alive.