by Omid Scobie
Doria messaged Thomas with the news, which Meghan had asked her to do. The new mother did not want him to find out after the rest of the world. But she didn’t want to know whether her father replied to her mother’s text.
Lastly, Harry had Palace aides to inform, including Sara, which he did at 9:30 a.m., just as they were leaving to return to Frogmore Cottage. It was soon after Archie was born, but Dr. Penny had given the all-clear, and Meghan felt up to getting back home, where she would continue to be monitored.
Although Meghan spent just a short time in the hospital after Archie’s birth, when she texted her friends with the news back home while the baby slept, she described being elated, if tired and a little overwhelmed. “A pinch me moment,” she told one pal.
The new mom marveled at how calm her baby was. “He’s barely cried,” she said to a friend. “He’s an angel.”
In a text to another dear pal, Meghan wrote, “If my son is half of what your children are, I will be so happy.”
When it came to letting the public know about Archie’s birth, Harry wanted to do so himself. “Harry didn’t want his office to give the info to the papers to put out, and he didn’t want to lose control of this precious moment,” a source close to the prince said. “He wanted people to hear it in his own words, no statement, no formal announcement . . . just him, off the cuff and candid.” Sara made the necessary arrangements.
Standing in front of Windsor Castle’s Mews with two horses sticking their black heads out of the stable doors, Harry said, grinning, “I’m very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a baby boy early this morning, a very healthy boy. Mother and baby are doing incredibly well. It’s been the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined. How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension, but we’re both absolutely thrilled and so grateful to all the love and support from everybody out there. It’s been amazing.”
As he talked about the “first birth” he attended, Harry gushed about his wife and baby. “This little thing is absolutely to die for. So, I’m just over the moon,” he said.
Two days later, Archie made his global debut at Windsor Castle during an intimate media call—just two photographers, one agency reporter, and three video cameras pooled together to feed to every news outlet under the sun.
As Harry and Meghan walked into St. George’s Hall, where they had celebrated their wedding reception nearly one year earlier, the cameras clicked away to capture the newborn royal, wrapped in the G. H. Hurt & Son shawl traditionally worn by royal babies. (Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis all wore the same brand for their debuts).
Unlike their engagement photo, this time it was Harry giving Meghan the quick pep talk before stepping out. “You look beautiful,” he told her. Meghan selected a Wales Bonner trench dress, Manolo Blahnik pumps, and one of her favorite gold-and-turquoise Jennifer Meyer necklaces for the occasion. She also sported her engagement ring, which she hadn’t been able to wear in the final seven weeks of her pregnancy. Prior to arriving, she admitted she was exhausted but excited to share such a happy moment.
The family had originally planned to pose on the steps behind Windsor Castle to echo their wedding photo taken before their reception, but light rain at Windsor meant that the Palace put their “wet weather scenario” into place, with Harry, Meghan, and the baby posing inside St. George’s Hall instead.
Sara and assistant communications secretary, Julie Burley, who rushed to pick a few lint pieces off the bright red hall carpet just before the couple arrived, instructed the small camera pool that they had just ten seconds for photos before three vetted questions were asked. Yet the duke and duchess seemed happy to stay and chat for longer about their new son.
“I have the two best guys in the world,” Meghan said. “I’m really happy.”
When asked about what kind of baby Archie is, Meghan answered, “He has the sweetest temperament. He’s really calm.”
“Don’t know where he gets that from,” Harry quipped.
The couple were candid about their feelings for their son but not his name. They had yet to reveal the name they’d chosen for Archie publicly, because they wanted the Queen to hear it first and give her approval. This wasn’t out of ceremonial necessity but simply because Harry was respectful of his grandmother.
After finishing with the press, Harry, Meghan, and Archie went straight to Windsor Castle to meet his great-grandmother, the Queen. They had already bumped into a cheerful Prince Philip on the grounds before entering the media call, but this was to be his first proper moment to meet his great-grandson.
Also on hand for the meeting with Queen Elizabeth II was Archie’s proud grandmother, Doria. The moment was later shared in a photo on social media. All five adults around Archie, the first biracial grandchild of the Queen. The picture, taken by the couple’s personal photographer Chris Allerton, was a hugely significant moment for the royal family. There, for the first time, was much-needed visibility around race and inclusion at the heart of the monarchy. “That made me proud,” Meghan told a friend.
Doria remained close at hand to support her daughter. “Doria was looking after Meghan while Meghan looked after Archie,” said a friend, who added that Doria helped prepare meals and do other things around the house so Meghan could devote all her energy toward caring for her son, including nursing him.
Harry was also “super eager to do as much as he can,” a friend of the couple said. “Meghan loves that he wants to do so much. He’s been changing most of Archie’s diapers—he likes having it as his ‘job,’ especially as Meghan has so much more to do.”
In being a hands-on dad, Harry was very much like his brother, William, who was involved in every aspect of raising his three children—including school drop-off and pickup, as well as homework. He and Kate, who had an equal partnership when it came to the house, were modern parents. William prepared meals just as much as Kate did.
In this way, William was continuing his mother’s legacy. Princess Diana was one of the first royals to make the kitchen in their apartment a place where the family convened. This was during a time when most other members of the royal family had barely stepped foot in the kitchen. When William and Kate took over the apartment at 1A, they wanted the kitchen to be at the heart of the home. It wasn’t just practical; it was also symbolic. Like his mother had wanted for him, William desired relatively normal childhoods for his kids, even if his eldest son was destined to be king.
Harry was just getting to know his own son. The couple couldn’t quite get over how silent their new baby was. Meghan told a friend that Archie slept so quietly she sometimes wanted him to make noise so she knew he was okay. Archie had a nursery, of course, but also slept in a bassinet in Harry and Meghan’s bedroom.
Meanwhile, gifts poured into Frogmore. Their home, particularly their kitchen, was filled with flowers from around the world: the Clooneys, the Cordens, and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern all sent arrangements. Oprah sent the couple a very special gift—a huge library of children’s books, all labeled with customized “Archie’s Book Club” stickers.
One of Archie’s first storybooks for his nursery bookshelf was The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, one of Meghan’s favorites read to her by Doria as a child. The Mulroneys sent a top-of-the-line bassinet stroller as a gift, which Meghan used to take Archie on walks around the grounds of Frogmore every day, dogs Guy and Pula often in tow.
The extra precautions the new parents took with their cyber security didn’t stop Harry and Meghan from showing off pictures of their baby as any new parent would. On British Mother’s Day—which Meghan started with breakfast in her bedroom with her mother and Archie—Harry shared another photo of Archie with the world via Instagram. This one was the baby’s little feet in his mother’s hand.
The forget-me-nots, Princess Diana’s favorite flower, in the background of the photo were an intentional nod to his late mother. Understandably, she had been “very much on Harry’
s mind” since he became a father.
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On the anniversary of their first year of marriage, Harry and Meghan enjoyed a traditional Sunday lunch with Doria, her last meal before traveling back to LA. Her five weeks at Frogmore had flown by, but she had to get back to work.
Meghan was grateful for all the love and support her mother provided during the last weeks of her pregnancy and the first weeks of Archie’s life. As a friend said, “Meg has taken to motherhood like a duck to water, but it definitely helped having Doria with her to double-check things with. It’s all so new to her.” Plus, having her own family in those first weeks was important to share the earliest baby memories.
On May 19, 2019, Harry also surprised his wife of one year with the gift of a ring that he had created with jeweler-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz, a favorite of Meghan’s. The conflict-free diamond eternity band paid homage to the family of three with Meghan’s, Archie’s, and Harry’s birthstones (peridot, emerald, and sapphire, respectively) on the underside of the ring. “Harry wanted to make it special,” the jeweler shared. “He’s the loveliest person ever. So romantic, so thoughtful.” (So much so that Harry also thought to have Lorraine resize and reset Meghan’s engagement ring with a new diamond band.)
The couple never imagined their first year would go so quickly and that they would achieve so much in such a short period. “It was their dream to be having their one-year anniversary as parents, but they knew that things don’t always happen the way you plan,” a source close to the couple said. “Both of them feel incredibly blessed. Meghan has thanked God every day for blessing them with Archie.
“They couldn’t believe they had this beautiful son with them all of a sudden. They had this moment where they looked at each other like, ‘We did this.’ Suddenly they were a family of three.”
In their first weeks home as a new family, Harry and Meghan welcomed friends from far and wide. Jessica and her daughter, Ivy, took a mother-daughter trip to London and made time to meet Archie for the first time. Serena and Alexis, with their daughter, Alexis Olympia, were also guests for an afternoon. And Charlie van Straubenzee and wife Daisy Jenks, paid them a visit. Also spending time with the couple were Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi, who stopped by for an afternoon in August. “Cutest couple and so down to earth,” Ellen later revealed.
And there were many visits by family members, close and extended. William and Kate stopped by eight days after Archie’s birth, without their children, to meet the new arrival. Both of Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah and Lady Jane, also stopped by with gifts, as did Harry’s younger cousin Celia McCorquodale and her husband, George Woodhouse. And a “thrilled” Prince Charles paid two visits, one by himself and one with Camilla.
Charles made the effort to see Archie as much as his schedule permitted, dropping by three times in the first four months of his grandson’s birth. While Harry and his father were now closer than ever, busy schedules made it difficult for them to spend regular time together. Charles tended to be more of a presence at big family events. “This isn’t a family that pops by to say hi or text each other to see how they’re doing,” a source said. “There’s a formalness there.”
Great-grandmother “Gan-Gan” (as the Queen is known by the Sussex and Cambridge children) saw much more of Archie. Spending a lot of time on the Windsor estate (her castle apartments are about a one-mile walk from Frogmore Cottage) made doing so a lot easier. Archie also had several visits from Eugenie and Jack.
Although Harry and Meghan had initially chosen to forgo a full-time nanny, Doria had just flown back to LA, and so they decided to hire a night nurse to establish a sleep schedule and be an extra pair of helping hands. But their time with the couple was brief. Meghan and Harry were forced to let the nurse go in the middle of her second night of work for being unprofessional and irresponsible.
The new parents went on to hire a second night nurse, who did a fine job, but because of the incident with the first nurse, neither found themselves comfortable sleeping through the night without going to check on Archie regularly. After a few weeks, they decided to take on the nights themselves and went without a night nurse entirely. Instead, they hired a nanny to work weekdays. The nanny joined Harry and Meghan’s Frogmore staff, which consisted of an assistant and a housekeeper, neither of whom were live-in.
Harry and Meghan had agreed they didn’t want their home filled with staff. Harry had seen that situation at William’s home (the Cambridges had a live-in housekeeper and a full-time, live-in nanny), and didn’t want the same for his own family. He and Meghan liked the idea that when they went to bed at night, it was just the three of them in the house. Cozy and private.
In the mornings, Harry usually made his own coffee. When they had meetings at the large kitchen table with staff members, it was often Meghan who made a pot of tea and put chocolates or energy balls on a plate for nibbling.
Meghan remained on maternity leave for the summer, making only intermittent appearances at a select few important engagements and stepping out for family events. Trooping the Colour, the Queen’s official birthday parade, was Meghan’s first post-birth engagement, on June 8. Harry forwent the two-week paternity leave that was typical in the UK. Instead, he worked a greatly reduced schedule of just one or two engagements a week to fulfill preexisting commitments and keep the public eye focused on the causes important to him and Meghan. There wasn’t much that could drag the new parents away from their son. Harry almost immediately realized how quickly children grow when he said to friends about Archie, “He was so tiny when we brought him home, but he’s already gotten big!”
However, helping other less fortunate kids became an even more important part of the couple’s calling. Harry flew to the Netherlands on May 9 to launch the official one-year countdown to the Invictus Games taking place in The Hague. Five days later, he was in Oxford to highlight work at a children’s hospital and visit the OXSRAD disability center his mother opened in 1989.
On May 24, Harry headed to Rome, Italy, for two nights to play in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup. The charity provided education, health, and psychosocial programs to help children struggling with the misperceptions about AIDS and HIV in southern Africa since its founding in 2006. It also hosted clubs, camps, and programs to over 4,600 adolescents coming to terms with living with the virus, and more than two thousand children were accommodated at their Mamohato Children’s Centre in Lesotho.
Polo matches were an essential way for William and Harry to raise money for many of their philanthropic endeavors. Harry, a keen polo player, had spent two weeks preparing for the event by regularly riding his horse in Windsor Great Park. And the training paid off. His team won, 9–6. The match and evening reception at the St. Regis Hotel, where Harry stayed for two nights, raised over a million dollars.
At a private dinner that evening, Harry explained what he hoped to achieve with Sentebale. “These children receive help and support to understand that HIV is no longer a death sentence, that they are not alone in this fight, and that they truly can thrive rather than just survive,” he said. “Our camp not only gives these young people the confidence and reassurance they need to live life with HIV, but also empowers them to speak out about the virus and encourage their peers to learn about it and prevent it from spreading.”
Before the match, Harry’s close friend, Sentebale ambassador, and polo teammate Nacho Figueras shared how Harry had already been moved by fatherhood. “He seems to be very, very happy,” Nacho said. “He was ready for it, and I think he’s loving it. I always thought that he would be an amazing father because he has a great affinity for children.”
Harry, who shared in the responsibilities of Archie’s night feedings, got his first full night of sleep since his son’s arrival during that event, which Nacho also remarked on in the interview. However, the conversation turned quickly when a reporter at the event asked, “Not many fathers go abroad within two weeks of a birth. Any wo
rd on that from the mother?”
“How dare that guy tell a father who loves his child and is leaving the house for just twenty-four hours to go raise money for thousands of vulnerable children in Africa, how dare he say something like that,” Nacho fumed on CBS a few days later. The polo player wasn’t the only one angry at the insinuation. Harry’s team at the Palace was furious, as Harry’s efforts in the area of the AIDS crisis were not about only working for the greater good but also carrying on his mother’s memory.
“After my mother and many others campaigned for years highlighting this epidemic, we are finally at a tipping point,” Harry said. “We either finish what they started and solve this problem once and for all, or we face the humiliation at being complacent and allowing this virus to strike back just when we were starting to get on top of it.”
For Harry, the mission was intensely personal—carrying on the work his mother, Princess Diana, never got a chance to finish herself. “Our hope is that this generation will be the generation that turns the tide on the stigma,” he continued. “This will be the generation who will talk about safe sex. The generation who will support those who are living with HIV. And the generation that stops HIV from spreading once and for all.”
Whatever grief Harry received for going to Rome to play polo after his son’s birth was nothing compared to the backlash the Sussexes received after their family’s summer travels. The trouble began when the famously eco-conscious prince used a private jet to visit three different destinations within a month.
His first stop was Google Camp—a three-day event, held in the last week of July at an exclusive Sicilian seaside resort, where high profile entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and movie stars such as Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio focused on fighting climate change. The tech giant footed the bill for everything, including travel to the resort and back. Harry’s original plans were to fly commercial, there and back on the same day, but while at the event he accepted a lift back to London on an attendee’s private jet so he could stay a day longer and discuss his work on an unannounced sustainble tourism initiative.