Harry, Meghan push family leave with annual holiday card

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are making a paid family leave push in their annual holiday card.

The couple released their Christmastime greeting on Thursday, showing them barefoot and in jeans while holding 2-year-old son Archie and 6-month-old daughter Lilibet. The snapshot is the first image the pair has shared publicly of Lilibet since her June birth. 

In a message on the card, the two wrote, “This year, 2021, we welcomed our daughter, Lilibet, to the world. Archie made us a ‘Mama’ and a ‘Papa’, and Lili made us a family.”

“As we look forward to 2022, we have made donations on your behalf to several organizations that honor and protect families — from those being relocated from Afghanistan to American families in need of paid parental leave.” 

Team Rubicon, Welcome.US, Marshall Plan for Moms and Paid Leave For All are among the organizations that Prince Harry and Meghan indicated they’ve made contributions to this holiday season.

While members of the British royal family are expected to maintain political neutrality, Meghan has become a vocal proponent of paid family leave since moving to California last year. She and Harry announced they were stepping away from their duties as full-time working members of the royal family when they made the move to the United States.  

In October, the 40-year-old mom of two penned an open letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) urging them to include paid leave as part of an infrastructure spending bill. The former “Suits” actor also personally called lawmakers, including Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to advocate for the issue.

“I mean paid leave, from my standpoint, is just a humanitarian issue,” Meghan said last month.

The couple’s holiday card features a photo snapped by Alexi Lubomirski over the summer at Prince Harry and Meghan’s home in Santa Barbara, Calif. The card wishes recipients a “happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year, from our family to yours!”

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