When Meghan and Prince Harry announced they were expecting their first child, royal fans were thrilled and couldn’t wait to get a glimpse of the newest member of the House of Windsor once the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had welcomed him to the world. But when Prince Archie was born things didn’t quite follow the usual format that the public had come to expect upon a royal birth.
The Duke and Duchess have never been afraid to do things their own way, and the arrival of their first-born child was no exception. But one royal expert has since called out what he perceived to be “deception” from the Royal Family, and a “lie” surrounding Archie’s safe arrival. When Archie was born – on 6 May 2019 – there was definitely a little bit of confusion about his arrival at first. Buckingham Palace initially released a statement announcing the Duchess of Sussex had gone into labour early that morning, but very shortly afterward another statement was released – this time explaining that Archie had actually been born that morning at 5.26 am.
With each of her three children, Kate had undertaken a photocall with each of her newborns outside the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital, following a relatively modern royal tradition. This is something she later admitted during a podcast appearance was “slightly terrifying” and though she understood the public interest and was grateful for the support, it brought up a few “mixed emotions” for her as a new parent.
Harry and Meghan decided to forgo this kind of photocall, and instead, the first pictures of Archie the public were treated to were taken at Windsor Castle a couple of days after his birth. Royal expert Robert Lacey – a historian and author – wrote in the Daily Mail about the confusion around when Archie had been born and called it “deception”.
“There was the deception over the announcement of Archie’s birth, which unlike every other royal birth of modern times took place in total secrecy: Buckingham Palace announced at 2 pm on May 6, 2019, that Meghan had gone into labour that morning — when in fact, she had safely given birth to baby Archie eight hours earlier, at 5.26 am.”
Lacey also noted that Harry and Meghan had declined to release the names of the godparents that they selected for Archie, and noted that this wasn’t always the usual procedure for a royal baby. In their six-part documentary series for Netflix, Meghan opened up about why she had decided to do things a little bit differently and give birth at Portland Hospital away from the spotlight, explaining “There was already the pressure of the picture on the steps. … But I had been really worried going into that labour, because I’m older, I didn’t know if I’d have to have a c-section, and I had a very longstanding relationship with my doctor, and that’s who I trusted with my pregnancy.”
Prince Harry noted in the series in a scene where he sat with his wife, that the couple had received “abuse” for deviating from the royal norms, saying: “The amount of abuse that we got, especially you, but both of us, for not wanting to serve our child up on a silver platter, was incredible.”