Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be the most unconventional royals the world has ever seen. Now, they are doing something that would have previously seemed unthinkable to the Royal Family: raising children in America!
Their oldest child is Archie, who is now three years old. Previously, we didn’t know much about Archie except that, before he was even born, his skin color was allegedly a concern for an unnamed member of the Royal Family. That detail came out during Harry and Meghan’s infamous Oprah interview, and it was one of the reasons they headed to the states.
Now, though, Harry and Meghan have opened up about Archie. What have they said, and what does it tell us about this tiny royal? Let’s find out!
Remembering Diana
Prince Harry was very close to his mother, the late Princess Diana. According to People, Harry put a picture of Diana up in Archie’s nursery, and the young man quickly learned about his deceased grandmother.
“I got a photo of her in his nursery, and it was one of the first words that he said — apart from ‘mama,’ ‘papa,’ it was then ‘grandma’. Grandma Diana,” Harry shared during his Apple+ documentary series The Me You Can’t See. “It’s the sweetest thing, but at the same time, it makes me really sad because she should be here.”
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Big fan of… chickens?
It’s not uncommon for children to be great animal lovers. What is a bit uncommon, though, is Archie’s passion for chickens.
Yahoo! reports that, while Meghan was on The Ellen Degeneres Show, family friend Ellen commented on Archie’s love of chickens while he visited his own personal chicken coop. “He’s so sweet with the chickens, too. Archie is just such a gentle soul,” Ellen said. This earned a hearty reply from Meghan: “Aww, thank you!”
The video call crasher
Since Harry and Meghan are rich and famous, they don’t have to worry about the same things most of us do. Apparently, though, no amount of wealth or fame can keep a determined kid from crashing a video call!
Scary Mommy reports Harry’s hilarious comments about trying to work from home when Archie is running around. “This whole working from home stuff is not all it’s cracked up to be, certainly post-COVID, because it’s really hard,” he said. “But when your kids and you are in the same place, it’s really hard to separate the work from them because they kind of overlap. So, I mean, Archie spends more time interrupting our Zoom calls than anybody else.”
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Hyped about Invictus
Prince Harry helped found the Invictus Games, so this adaptive sports competition has always been near and dear to his heart. And now, it appears, Archie is starting to share this passion!
In an interview with People, Harry revealed that “I showed Archie a video of wheelchair basketball and rugby from the Invictus Games in Sydney, and he absolutely loved it.” Continuing, Harry (a veteran himself) said “I showed him how some were missing legs and explained that some had invisible injuries, too. Not because he asked, but because I wanted to tell him. Kids understand so much, and to see it through his eyes was amazing because it’s so unfiltered and honest.”
What Archie wants to be when he grows up
Every young child is focused on what he wants to be when he grows up. As it turns out, Archie is no different!
Us Magazine reports that Harry dished about Archie’s dreams during the opening ceremonies of the Invictus Games this year. “When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot — a helicopter pilot obviously — or Kwazii from Octonauts,” he said, unable to contain laughter. “If you’re laughing, then you’ve seen that.”
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He likes to read about himself
It can sometimes be a struggle to get kids interested in reading. It helps that Archie has the unique opportunity to read about himself!
As reported by Marie Claire, Meghan Markle wrote a children’s book called The Bench. The book focuses on how sons and fathers bond, and it’s written from the perspective of a mother. Conveniently, the illustrations include Harry, Archie, and even the family dogs.
“On that first page you open and you see our dogs and he goes, ‘That’s Pula! That’s Guy!’ Meghan said in an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show, gleefully detailing how Archie recognizes the family pooches.
No hype for Halloween
Most children and more than a few adults look forward to Halloween every year. However, this is one holiday that Archie has no time for!
ET Online reports that, while appearing on Ellen, Meghan detailed how Archie really feels about the spooky holiday. “We wanted to do something fun for the kids, and then the kids were just not into it at all,” Meghan said, explaining that she got Archie a dinosaur costume that he wore for less than five minutes. Eventually, they talked him into wearing only the head. Honestly, that sounds a lot scarier than wearing the whole costume!
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A flirty young man with many nicknames
So far, Archie has at least two nicknames. One of them is properly royal, and the other…well…it’s properly redneck!
According to People, Meghan Markle released a video where she was reading to Archie. At one point during the video, she says, “Let’s turn the page, let’s show everybody. Let’s go to the next page — look Arch!”
“Arch” is a pretty normal nickname for someone named Archie. However, Little Things reports that when Harry, Meghan, and Archie met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, Meghan referred to Archie as “Bubba.”
At one point, Archie seemed to laugh and pay more attention to what Thandeka was saying. “You like me best, yes!” Thandeka crowed to Archie. “Oh, you like the ladies better, yeah.”
Without missing a beat, Meghan said “he likes to flirt!” We can only imagine Archie will be quite the ladykiller when he gets older.