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Prince Harry has told of the “disconnection” he felt after the birth of his first child with wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in a deeply personal new revelation.
The royal – who is visiting Australia for the first time in eight years – discussed the “struggle” of becoming a new father in a chat for men’s health charity Movember at the Western Bulldogs HQ in Melbourne on April 15.
In candid comments, the prince revealed the complicated emotions he felt after the birth of his son, Archie, now six.
“Certainly, I felt a disconnection because my wife was the one creating life. And I was there to witness it,” Harry shared.
Archie’s birth, in May 2019, came at a time of immense change for the couple – with the Sussexes involved in negotiations about their future in the royal family and stepping back from their roles as working royals just eight months later.
“It’s the most important and transformational role a guy can ever move into,” Harry said of fatherhood.
“The role gives you purpose. Those days, weeks, after birth are a real struggle,” he added.
“If I was stressed, the moment I held Archie… he would notice it quicker than I could.”
The prince revealed how he received help from a UK-based therapist as he prepared to become a dad.
“I think the biggest tip that I was given from my therapist in the UK was just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born,” he said.
In the same chat, Harry explained how he sees parenting “evolving over time”.
“Our kids are our upgrade,” he said. “Not to say that I upgraded my dad or that my kids upgraded me, but the kids that we bring up in today’s world need to be upgraded.
“And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with, and therefore prepare myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”
Certainly, Harry and Meghan take their roles as parents very seriously, and have been careful to anonymise their children, Archie and Lilibet, four, on social media – while gradually giving a fascinated public more glimpses into the siblings’ lives.
Indeed, royal experts have suggested that Meghan looks set to lean into a role as a “mummy influencer” in due course.
“Let’s face it, the lifestyle influencer space hasn’t really worked but the mummy influencer space seems to be really opening up for her now and what she is leaning into,” Tom Sykes, royal expert and author of The Royalist substack, claimed.
In an opinion piece in the Daily Mail Editor-at-Large Alison Boshoff also said a source in California had told her some time ago that Meghan was “settling on her next direction”.
“She has been talking for years about how meaningful she finds being a mother, and now this is going to be her focus,” the expert wrote.
“Naturally, she will have to build her ‘mom’ identity on Instagram, since you cannot have a lifestyle brand without using social media.”
