Sitting on an embroidered couch in a receiving room at Windsor Palace, The Duke of Sussex exchanges a smile with his four-month-old son, Archie Harrison.
"He's wonderful," he says, holding the baby on his lap and enjoying its healthy grip around his index finger. "I don't want anyone thinking I love him any less because of the manner in which he came to us. This is my son."
A mature man and a father
Harry is no longer the little boy who walked behind his mother's coffin or the muscular soldier who volunteered for the front lines in Afghanistan. This is a stronger, more mature man - and a father."When we married, Meghan and I were eager to hit the ground running quickly, and that included starting a family," he says in measured tones. "The truth is, both of us had experienced medical problems which affected our fertility. I don't want to be more explicit than that.
"But I can say that the ordinary way of bringing a child into the world would have been difficult for us."
Without consulting his family, Harry and his new wife contracted the services of a specialist in surrogate births, who matched them with an experienced professional surrogate. Ten months later, in March 2019, Archie Harrison was born.
Stress with William
The unconventional method of adding to their family had not been approved by anyone in the Royal Family, and the family was slow to accept it.In particular, his brother William was upset by Meghan's insistence on wearing a false pregnancy belly whilst carrying out Royal engagements.
Harry takes a deep breath before speaking about his brother. "William takes his position very seriously," he says carefully. "He did not like the idea of deceiving anybody. So he was unhappy that Meghan did what she did."
In general, Harry feels his wife has been misunderstood. "She is an actress, a trained actress. Actors learn to see their body as an instrument, which is what she was doing. She wanted everyone to experience the joy of a royal pregnancy, as we were experiencing it."
By contrast, his father Prince Charles was supportive after learning of the couple's choice.
"Pa has been there for both of us, and we are so grateful," Harry said.
The question of titles
Will Archie be part of the Royal Family?
"Archie is my son, so of course he must be part of the family," Harry says. "We want him to get to know his cousins, because growing up my cousins have been some of my closest and most loyal friends."
But Harry understands the edict that children must be born "of the body" of a royal wife in order to be in line for the throne.
"It is an outmoded rule, and I think it should be abolished," he says. "But I understand that it was in force when Archie was born, so I do not expect him to be part of the line of succession.
"This is also why he has not been given a title, which is fine with me. My cousins Zara and Peter have no titles and they are very much part of the Royal Family."
A growing family
The Duke remains committed to his wife and to creating his own family, which will ultimately be based at the still-unfinished Frogmore Cottage.
"We hope to have at least one more child in the same manner," he says.
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The above text is totally fake - it is solely my idea of what Harry should say to begin putting this whole sad epsisode to rest. Any comments or input?
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The above text is totally fake - it is solely my idea of what Harry should say to begin putting this whole sad epsisode to rest. Any comments or input?
Comments
As for Nutty's blog, I agree. I think that the reason I was so drawn to talk about this situation is because I felt so gaslighted by the media about how wonderful MM is and how in love they were... and yet, I saw with my own eyes. As her behavior has gotten worse and worse, the gaslighting has become more and more absurd, the BRFs responses are maddening, and these are people who we've grown up with - people we always thought we could respect - and they've got the SoHo riding shotgun in a carriage with the future queens. We know what we see, and we can try to rationalize that spectacle de merde with hair extensions, but she is what she is, and I am grateful to be able to share my perceptions with a thoughtful group of women who validate reality and make me laugh at the same time.
Another round of Contemptinis, damn it, and keep them coming, because Wimbledon and the spectacle of spectacles happens soon...
I also noticed that the comments are now moderated. Really slows down the conversation.
1) She has health problems and isn't up to a media fight about Meg at the moment. As I recall, Sam is living with MS.
2) She's trying to figure out how to monetize what she has about Meg. I assume no traditional publisher wanted her book, and self-publishing is tricky for a first-time author. Wouldn't be good if the DM just stole the most salacious bits and no one bought the book. And then Sam would have nothing left to sell.
3) Her daughter Noel, who may actually be MM's daughter from a teenage relationship, asked her not to reveal that fact.
Those are my thoughts!
Back in the day, of course, they would have put together one of their patented undercover sting operations, the ones that caught Fergie, Andrew, and Sophie Wessex in the past. I believe these are illegal under the new media regulations, however.
Too bad, because it would have been very entertaining to see some reporter from the Sun dress up as a representative from a US lifestyle brand and catch Meg disclose her merching plans on video.
I just wonder if Celt News is halfway reputable.
And I just have to add. Poor Catherine. I feel sick for her to have to spend the day that she would otherwise really enjoy but that instead has to be spent with someone so awful and who hates her so much. I know I don't know Kate, but I know that feeling of being forced into a miserable, awkward situation.
I suspect that she has never slept much, if at all, through a lot of chemical assistance to maintain her maniac energy levels. Either that, or she's a vampire, an explanation that is gaining more credence with me by the day. There weren't any reflections in the mirrors at the christening. Hmm!
In the case of MM, the media would do it only if it is in defense of the public interest and it was impossible to gather information by other means. Not sure about the merching (she probably uses intermediaries) but for ex. the Frogmore renovations, the line of succesion to the British throne or Meg's overexpenditure may motivate more than one investigative journalist.
Other media, e.g. social media or Internet-based media may go ahead and deviate (we see a lot of deviations to journalistic principles everywhere), but it wouldn't be the same if a website discloses information than if The Guardian does it.