Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Christmas card features son Archie Harrison

Black-and-white snap taken by taken by Meghan’s friend, Janina Gavankar

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released their first Christmas card with their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor.

The seven-month-old takes centre stage in the black-and-white photograph, staring right down the camera lens while his parents laugh behind him with a Christmas tree in the background.

The photo was released on Twitter by an unverified account for The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, a charity that supports young people in impoverished areas.

Prince Harry is president of the charitable organisation while Meghan is vice-president.

On Monday, the charity tweeted: “Just sharing the sweetest Christmas Card from our president and vice-President, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Very Merry Christmas, everyone!”

The tweet has since garnered more than 26,000 likes and 4,200 retweets in addition to thousands of comments from adoring fans.

“It’s so lovely to see King Archie!” tweeted one person. “This child will be bringing glory to family and to world.”

Another added that Archie “stole the whole show” in the photograph.

The image was taken by one of Meghan’s close friends, Janina Gavankar, who is an American actor best known for her TV roles.

Gavankar has previously starred in dramas, including The L Word and True Blood, and recently starred alongside Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in Apple TV+ programme The Morning Show.

The actor has been friends with Meghan for more than 15 years and attended the royal wedding in 2018, though she was careful not to broadcast her invitation on social media.

At the time, Gavankar told Town & Country magazine: “In the end, this was a wedding, an actual wedding, between two people, who are real people that fell in love.

“And people who know them know that this is a private moment that was not allowed to be private.

“It wasn’t a priority for me to have my publicist announce I was going. My priority will always be my friend. I’m not there for you, I’m there for her.”

Harry and Meghan are spending Christmas in Canada as part of a six-week break. The couple will not be joining the Queen and other members of the royal family for the traditional gathering at Sandringham on Christmas Day.