Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Prince Harry is said to have told a close family friend that he didn’t want Archie learning a popular royal tradition.
The Duke of Sussex reportedly told Dr Jane Goodall that he didn’t want his son following in his family footsteps just months before he stapped back from the Royal Family with Meghan Markle.
The couple announced they would be quitting life as working royals in January 2020, relocating to the United States with Archie.
Since settling down in the US, they have also welcomed a daughter, Lilibet, settling into a life without the rules and protocols that come with the monarchy, reports The Mirror.
And while their decision to quit as working royals shocked many, it was a move hinted at when Harry met close friend Dr Jane Goodall.
The anthropologist and conversationist has been a longtime friend of the prince, and visited him and Meghan shortly after they welcomed Archie in 2019.
Dr Goodall was invited to Frogmore Cottage to be interviewed by the Duke of Sussex for a special Forces for CHANGE edition of Vogue that was guest-edited by Meghan. Upon arrival, royal author Robert Lacey says Dr Goodall was allowed to hold Archie.
In his biography Battle of Brothers, he wrote: “Meghan came into the room as the interview drew to a close. She was holding the newborn Archie tenderly in her arms and she offered the baby to the 85-year-old Goodall.”
In the book, Dr Goodall said she was a bit taken aback by Harry’s response to a joke suggesting Archie will need to be taught the royal way of living.
She said: “He was very tiny and very sleepy. I think I was one of the first to cuddle him outside the family. I made Archie do the Queen’s Wave saying, ‘I suppose he’ll have to learn this. Harry’s reaction brooked no doubt, ‘No! He’s not growing up like that'”
A few months after Dr Goodall met Archie, Harry and Meghan announced their decision to quit as senior working royals. They have since been keen to keep their children out of the limelight.
Archie and Lillbet are yet to attend public events so the Sussexes can give them a “normal” upbringing away from the Royal Family.
In an interview last year, Harry said he hoped the children would be able to have a solid relationship with his family.
He told People: “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution – so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy.”