2020 has been a whirlwind for the royal family with daily scandals but the biggest was “Megxit”, which happened earlier in the year. It all started or shall we say ended, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to become more private and to split their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
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While we all have discussed the ramifications this has on the royal family, everyone seems to overlook what, Meghan and Harry’s son, little Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor life is going to be like and how the Queen feels towards him.
1. Different From The Start
Proud dad Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, revealed the birth on May 7, 2019, when speaking to the media at his family’s home. Indeed, he told the press that the newborn weighed in at a little more than 7 pounds.
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The prince, you see, had been there while Archie was born, and he was understandably overjoyed at the result. “I’m so incredibly proud of my wife,” he said. “And as every father and parent would say, your baby is absolutely amazing. But this little thing is absolutely to die for, so I’m absolutely over the moon.”
2. Worldwide Celebration
Archie’s birth was, as expected, widely celebrated. Some locations around the world were even lit up to mark out a welcome for the new royal. The CN Tower and Niagara Falls showed pride in the royal pair’s connection with Canada.
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We will talk about that later in detail, The London Eye was also bathed in multicoloured light. And the day after the birth, the couple let the world know what they had decided to call the boy.
3. Unique Name
The name certainly set tongues wagging, too. Is Archie actually an anagram? Meghan’s first name is Rachel, after all. Is Harrison an intelligent pun on “Harry’s son”? It seems, however, that neither was the case and that the child was named after Major Tom Archer-Burton, affectionately known as “Archie,” who played a big part in Harry’s military service.
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Indeed, when Harry was informed that he wouldn’t be allowed to serve in Iraq back in 2007, “Archie” stepped in to persuade him to remain in the Army. He also helped to maintain the confidentiality of Harry’s service, which the prince has always appreciated.
4. The Real Archie
Archie and Harry subsequently became good pals, as was demonstrated when the soldier was spotted at the couple’s nuptials. Regarding the inspiration for Archie’s name, however, an insider shared the gossip with The Sun newspaper.
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They said, “It’s well known in Army circles, and Archie’s inner circle, that baby Archie is a nod to him. The two men have stayed in regular contact, and Archie has met most of Harry’s family including Meghan.” But the source also added that the older Archie was far too modest to accept any credit for the name.
5. Historical Issue
Even though Harry and Meghan didn’t give the younger Archie any fancy titles, he did receive an interesting surname. And it comes with a particularly intriguing history, too. You see, at the time when the Queen began her reign, her husband, Prince Philip, had wanted their future children to bear his name: Mountbatten.
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Historically, It hadn’t been allowed to give royal heirs the father’s surname, since the crown derived from the queen, even so, the prince was said to have been rather unhappy. So, the house name of the royal family continued to be Windsor – for a while, anyway.
6. The New Way
Indeed, Prince Philip did gain a concession from the Queen in the end. Because she seemingly loves her husband very much and after perhaps realizing how much the ordeal had hurt him, she made a change prior to the arrival of Prince Andrew.
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As a result, British royals now have the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. Had Philip won out before she took the throne, though, they might have been called Edinburgh, which is his ducal name.
7. Private Christening
Archie’s christening happened a couple of months after his birth. The small service was held in the Queen’s Windsor chapel, and it housed only a couple dozen invitees who watched as the Archbishop of Canterbury baptized Archie with Jordan River water.
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Rather than have active media presence at the event, the happy parents chose to subsequently post pictures to their social media pages, although they didn’t release any details of who acted as Archie’s godparents at the time.
8. Leaked Information
As this is the age of the internet and nothing remains private for long, half a year later the names of Archie’s Godparents were leaked. Even in this, the couple decided to shun tradition and chose two surprising “normal” people to act as Godparents to their son.
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Tiggy Pettifer, who’d been Harry’s nanny, was godmother, and his buddy Mark Dyer was godfather. These are people who helped support Harry following the fatal accident suffered by his mom, Princess Diana.
9. Prince Willaim Wasn’t Included
Since royals usually have a bunch of godparents, it wasn’t a surprise that another companion, Charlie van Straubenzee, was also an alleged godfather – and perhaps there were a few more who remained a secret, too.
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But the list probably didn’t include brother Prince William or his wife Kate Middleton. Why? Well, the belief is that an uncle or aunt is already part of your life, so you don’t need them as godparents.
10. Not A Prince
Because of the somewhat complicated rules of the British royalty, Archie isn’t a prince. His parents didn’t want him to have any kind of title, either. He could have been known as the Earl of Dumbarton – one of Harry’s titles – but both Harry and Meghan seemingly decided against it.
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However, Archie’s cousins are princes and a princess. The eldest of them, Prince George, is actually third in line for the British throne (first is Charles; second is William). He’s thought to be good for commerce in the U.K. and even had special coins struck when he was born. George, as you may well be aware, is sometimes seen with his parents at public events.
11. Megxit
Early in January 2020, you see, the royal couple told their social media followers that they wouldn’t be working as “senior royals” anymore. In the situation known as “Megxit” – a joke name referencing the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union, Brexit – the pair would share their time between the U.K. and Canada, and they would even provide for themselves financially.
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What followed their announcement was a series of talks with both the Queen and the rest of the senior royals. On January 13, for instance, Harry and Meghan attended the “Sandringham Summit,” where they figured out what would happen going forward. The upshot was that the couple would no longer do royal duties. And the monarch subsequently made a personal statement, which is very rare for her.
12. The Queen’s Thoughts
“Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family,” the Queen wrote. “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family”
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”Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives,” the British monarch continued. “It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the U.K. These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”
13. Plenty Of Money
The couple hasn’t been entirely cut adrift, however. Harry will still receive some money from his dad, Prince Charles, for example. And the fact that Harry and Meghan are free to take up new opportunities on their own is likely to mean that they won’t be short of cash.
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And it seems like Meghan is planning on getting back to acting since she is already in talks with Disney. Also, Prince Harry has a personal net worth of $25 Million, which includes inheritance from his mother.
14. The Signs
Megxit had been a long time coming, with Harry and Meghan gradually withdrawing from their public duties. This seemingly meant that Archie didn’t get to spend much time with his father’s side of the family. Indeed, it’s thought that Archie has only hung out with his cousins, William’s brood, on a few occasions. Many rumours suggest that Meghan didn’t feel like her ideas and those of the Queen or royal family, aligned and she didn’t want their influence in raising her son. And it’s not just the kids who haven’t seen much of Archie.
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Despite the fact that the Queen did spend time with him a couple of days after his birth when he came to visit Windsor Castle, she didn’t get an invite to his christening. What’s more, the family didn’t spend Christmas with the Queen, choosing instead to stay in Canada during the festive period.
15. The Big Move
And now that Archie’s parents are aiming to spend lots of the year Canada, the time that the baby spends with the Queen is likely to be even less. In January 2020 an insider spoke to U.K. newspaper The Sunday Times.
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It was revealed how the monarch really felt about this change. They said, “She will be very sad to have barely seen Archie and that he will miss out on growing up with his cousins and wider family.” Indeed, for the first couple of months in 2020, the youngster hadn’t seen English soil.
16. Away From Family
He’d been in Canada with Meghan instead. Despite the recent announcement, the family’s plans about how they’ll spend their time aren’t too clear, so when Archie is going to see his “Gan-Gan” is an issue that remains unresolved.
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Distance between relatives in the royal family isn’t necessarily a new occurrence, however. That’s right, the Queen reportedly hasn’t always been close to her immediate family, and she apparently wasn’t all that involved in the upbringing of her first son, Charles.
17. Tough Royal Childhood
In his authorized biography, which came out in 1994, the prince claimed that the staff in his nursery had been the ones who’d nurtured him the most. Charles’ sister, Anne, has told a different story, though.
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While she agrees that the nannies played an important role in the royal household, she remembers the Queen taking a keen interest in her kids, I simply don’t believe there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that she wasn’t caring,” Anne said during a 2002 interview with the BBC.
18. The Explanation
Like the Queen, however, the lack of time that Charles has been able to spend with Archie has apparently left him feeling disappointed. “Where will Archie’s heritage and roots be? What about Diana’s family, the Spencers?” an insider said to The Sunday Times in January 2020.
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“Harry and William know all too well how damaging an unsettled childhood can be.” Harry, too, admitted that the family’s withdrawal from royal life had caused “great sadness.” But he seemingly didn’t let it stop him from appreciating the joys of fatherhood.
19. Years Of Challenges
In January 2020, the new father addressed people from Sentebale – the AIDS foundation that he helped set up – Harry told his audience, “When I lost my mom 23 years ago, you took me under your wing. You looked out for me for so long. But the media is a powerful force. And my hope is one day, our collective support for each other can be more powerful because this is so much bigger than just us. It has been our privilege to serve you, and we will continue to lead a life of service.”
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“So in that respect, nothing changes,” the Duke of Sussex continued. Harry then attempted to explain why Megxit had happened. “It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges,” he said. “And I know I haven’t always gotten it right, but as this goes, there really was no other option.”
20. Fresh Start
Hopefully, this is the best route to take for all of those involved and as hard as change can be, both for the Royals, the Public and of course, Meghan and Harry, we just hope it is one which helps everyone come out stronger and more positive.
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Besides, even with Archie gone, though, the Queen will still have a family to spend time with. She’s said to be very close to her granddaughter Zara Tindall, for instance. Yes, she apparently loves Zara’s company.