Prince Harry’s Best Advice for Archie May Surprise You 》

Whether you love them or hate them, one quality of the Royal Family that we can all admire is their dedication to raising their children. This is especially true of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who have made it clear that children such as their firstborn Archie are their entire world.

Because Archie will have such a strange road ahead of him as a member of The Royal Family, we couldn’t help but wonder what kind of advice Prince Harry has been giving his eldest child to help prepare him for the future. As luck would have it, Harry actually shared that advice in the Heart of Invictus documentary. What did Harry say, and what makes it so surprising? Keep reading to discover the answers!

Archie’s character matters more than anything else

As the name of the documentary implies, Heart of Invictus follows many of the behind-the-scenes actions that go into preparing the Invictus Games as well as content from the Games themselves. At one point, it includes a segment where Prince Harry addresses the crowd and shares a rare glimpse into his perspective as a dad.

According to the Daily Mail, Harry told everyone “What I remind him is, no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it’s your character that matters most.” From most parents, that may sound like very straightforward advice. However, it’s worth noting that Archie was born into a life of both instant fame and immense responsibility. Into that intimidating world, Harry wants his son to know that he should never sacrifice his character, especially for the benefit of other people.

A difficult reputation for Archie to live up to

By itself, Harry’s advice might seem intimidating enough. After all, we’re confident that Archie is like so many of us and will perceive the very possibility of disappointing his famous father as something far worse than any kind of royal punishment.

However, Harry cranked up the intimidation factor even more. As reported by the Daily Mail, he followed up on his comments about the importance of character by telling the crowd “And nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today — you.”

The crowd was understandably pleased by his comments. And you’ll understand why Harry made them once you know more about the Invictus Games.

Harry’s history with Invictus

Harry created the Invictus Games back in 2014. It was designed as a multi-sport event that would test the abilities of its players. However, there’s a twist: all of the players involved are current or former members of the military who are now sick, wounded, and/or otherwise injured.

This ties into the fancy name of the Games, of course. The word “Invictus” is Latin for “unconquered,” and Prince Harry designed the event as a reminder to both the world and to players that military service doesn’t have to be defined by what someone has lost and that it’s more important to celebrate what someone still has to give.

Archie’s own hilarious plans for his future

Archie is obviously still a bit too young to decide exactly what he wants to do once he grows up. However, he’s already kicked a few ideas around with Harry and Meghan. And those ideas run the gamut from the very practical to the adorably impossible.

For example, in an interview with People, Prince Harry said “Some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot — a helicopter pilot obviously — or Kwazii from Octonauts,” the latter a reference to one of Archie’s favorite shows. Archie has plenty of time to decide a future for himself, and the fact that he is already dreaming so big is a good sign that Harry and Meghan are doing something right while raising him.

Harry and Meghan want their children to be relatively independent

At this point, you might be wondering why Archie would necessarily need to have any kind of job when he grows up. After all, as a member of The Royal Family, nothing would theoretically keep Archie from moving to England and taking his place beside the other working royals (including Harry’s somewhat estranged brother William, the future King of England).

However, Archie’s parents made history with “Megxit,” the cheeky public nickname for Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down from life as working royals and go begin a new life in America. The two clearly have an independent streak, and it’s one Meghan has mentioned passing on to her kids. As she said in an interview with Variety, their children are “part of a legacy and a tradition and a family that will have other expectations” but she and Harry nonetheless “want them to be able to carve out their own path.”

For the kids’ own sake, though, we can only hope their path causes less friction with the rest of the Royal Family than Harry and Meghan’s path did!