Prince Harry and Meghan Marke didn’t move to the US alone, but rather their son, Prince Archie, was with them when they made the so-dubbed “freedom flight” to Canada. In 2021, having moved into their multimillion-dollar mansion in Montecito, California, the Sussexes then welcomed a daughter, Princess Lilibet.
While Archie and Lilibet are still very young, the two royal children have already been a staple of discussion among news outlets. Lilibet recently celebrated her third birthday, though unfortunately no members of the Royal Family were present for her party.
Just what Archie and Lilibet’s relationships with their UK-based cousins – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – will look like in the future remains a matter for debate, though it’s been rumored recently that King Charles is desperate to play a more active role in the Sussexes’s children’s lives.
Archie is set to begin kindergarten this fall, while Lilibet is getting ready for preschool. Harry and Meghan are said to have started looking at schools for their children, only for one US journalist to lash out at the couple, labeling them “frauds.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to the US to live a more private life, far away from the paparazzi press and the pressures and expectations of the monarchy. It’s been said that the couple knew “within” days of their wedding that they didn’t want to stay in the Firm long-term.
When Archie was born in 2019, the Sussexes had already taken a step towards becoming more private, vying to move away from being wheeled out as a “marionette puppet” by the Crown for fans and media worldwide.
Harry & Meghan ‘tricked” reports when Archie was born
In her book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, royal expert Katie Nicholl described Harry as “almost morbidly obsessed” with keeping Archie’s birth as secret as possible, which certainly isn’t the norm when it comes to royal babies being born.
Yet as millions of loyal fans and the majority of the public sought information about the little boy, Harry and Meghan’s desire for secrecy was ignored, instead dubbed part of the “unwritten contract between the royals and the public.”
“Behind the scenes, matters were so fraught that more than one official — as I know from personal experience — was reduced to tears of frustration and despair,” Rebecca English, royal editor of the Daily Mail, added.
Usually, when a royal baby is born, the parents find themselves on the hospital steps with their new son or daughter to pose before the media. After photographs are taken, the proud mother and father answer a few questions before retreating to privacy.
According to Katie Nicholl, Harry and Meghan wanted to approach Archie’s birth differently. Instead of facing the media openly, they tricked reporters and photographers.
Prince William, Prince Harry, and William’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were all born at St Mary’s Hospital; thus, the traditional first baby photos were taken there. However, Meghan’s doctor worked at Portland Hospital, so it made sense for Meghan to deliver Archie there.
Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet
An added bonus for the Sussexes was that the place would make photos impossible due to safety considerations around the entrance.
“Harry had always enjoyed outfoxing the media,” Nicholl wrote in The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown.
“He and Meghan were thrilled to be safely delivered of their son in London’s private Portland hospital even before the palace press office had confirmed the duchess was in labor.”
Lilibet’s birth was not quite the same. She was born in June 2021 in California, and there, no paparazzi press even got close. Even so, it wasn’t long before Harry and Meghan Markle brought their kids back into the spotlight.
Two years after Lilibet’s birth, the Sussees announced that they had given their children the respective titles of prince and princess. Yet while Harry and Meghan claim the titles are their children’s birthright, not everyone agreed that this was the best move.
According to royal expert and author Angela Levin, it could have an unwanted impact on Archie and Lilibet’s futures.
In a piece for Sky, Levin stated that Lilibet now has a significant burden on her shoulders due to her parents’ decision.
“It will take a long time for little Lilibet to realize the extent of the burden her parents have placed on her young shoulders,” Levin said at the time.
She added that by giving their daughter an official royal title, Harry and Meghan have now “glued her to the British Royal Family,” the same establishment they have criticized for many years.
“Why on earth would you want your daughter to experience such anguish?” Levin asked, stating that Lilibet’s everyday life will be more challenging since she’s has the title of princess attached to her name.
King Charles ‘desperate’ to meet Archie & Lilibet
“Little girls obviously love being a princess at parties, but if Lilibet is the only one in the class who is a real princess, it could lead to jealousy that could easily be avoided,” the royal expert concluded.
Needless to say, Archie and Lilibet are growing up fast. Archie celebrated his 5th birthday in May; Lilibet turned three a little over a week ago. On June 5, the young princess’s big day was marked with a party, though no members of her family of the royal side was in attendance. In fact, it’s understood that Princess Eugenie is the only royal who has made a trip to visit Harry, Meghan, and their children in California.
Interestingly, while King Charles’s ties to Harry and his daughter-in-law remain strained, he is reportedly “heartbroken” about the non-existent relationship he shares with Archie and Lilibet.
For reference, the King has met Archie only five times and Lilibet just once.
Speaking with the Mirror, royal expert Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I: The Inside Story of the King and Our Late Queen, said Charles’ cancer diagnosis has made his relationship with Archie and Liiibet “all the more poigant,” as he realizes he “won’t be around forever.”
“Family has always been important to the King. He remembers his own somewhat fragmented childhood as his parents were always busy doing their duty. It is a great sadness to him he doesn’t see more of Archie and Lilibet,” Seward explained.
“That is why he will never break ties with Harry. He does not want a FaceTime relationship with his son’s children. He wants to know them and be involved with their lives while they are still young enough to be able to learn from his wisdom. His cancer has made it all the more poignant to him as he knows that he won’t be around forever.”
Meghan revealed real reason why Archie will never attend a UK school
Only time will tell what Harry and Meghan’s children will do when they grow up. While they can do and become whatever they want to be – even working royals – their parents likely see a future wherein they are both sent to some of the best and most expensive schools in the world.
Remember, their UK relatives have attended famous schools such as Gordonstoun in Scotland and Eton in England. The Sussexes though, it’s said, wouldn’t permit their son go to school in the UK.
In a 2022 piece in The Cut, journalist Allison Davis recalled a conversation with Meghan Markle where the Duchess stated that she didn’t want her son Archie to attend school in the UK due to safety concerns.
“Earlier in our conversation about her goals for the life she’s creating here, she’d remarked upon how, if Archie were in school in the UK, she’d never be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures,” Davis wrote.
Meghan told Allison: “Sorry, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child.”
There’s still plenty of time until Archie and Lilibet begin their studies, which include at least high school or college. Until then, they will likely attend a school nearby the fashionable Montecito, California, where they live.
Harry and Meghan “inspecting” expensive private school for Archie & Lilibet
One journalist suggests that the Sussexes have begun looking at schools in the surrounding area. Inevitably, Harry and Meghan are now apparently facing much criticism for their choice of possible insitutions.
Speaking with the Mirror, Rochard Mineards, with the Montecito Journal, revealed that Harry and Meghan have been eyeing a local private school. And it costs a pretty penny indeed.
“The Riven Rock twosome were spotted inspecting an institution’s campus last week, bringing them one-step closer to a decision,” Mineards said.
He added: “School fees in our area range from $60,000 to $50,000 plus for older grades, with most of the institutions having 100 percent of students going on to attend four-year colleges.”
It can be assumed that Harry and Meghan have the funds to put their children through private schools. However, the fact that Harry is looking at such an expensive school isn’t sitting well with everyone.
US-based journalist Lee Cohen has moved to slam the royal couple, branding them “frauds.” In an interview with GB News, he said it’s “infuriating” that the Sussexes are planning to enroll their children in an “outrageously expensive” school, not least since they have the issue of equality close to their hearts.
“It’s utterly infuriating to hear that Harry and Meghan, the self-proclaimed champions of equality and social justice, are even contemplating enrolling their children in an exclusive, outrageously expensive school,” Cohen said.
Harry & Meghan branded “frauds”
“Their supposed commitment to progressive causes is nothing but a facade,” he continued. “If they’re willing to indulge in this epitome of elitism, there is no advocating for equality Yet they’re willing to pay staggering tens of thousands per year for their children’s education. How can they possibly justify this when so many families struggle to afford even the basic necessities?”
Cohen concluded his rant by accusing the couple of sustaining their “systems of privilege,” even though they claim to be working against it.
“Sending their children to such a prestigious institution completely exposes the frauds that Harry and Meghan are. By perpetuating the very systems of privilege that they claim to expose,” Cohen told GB News.