Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have Gone to Extremes to Protect Archie from the ‘Royal Fish Bowl’ Harry Grew Up In
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex made a drastic move when they announced their plans to step back from their royal duties but, according to the new book Finding Freedom, stepping out the spotlight was necessary for the protection and privacy of their son, Archie. Find out the other measures the couple took to protect their child.
‘Finding Freedom’ goes inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal experience
It became clear that Prince Harry and Meghan were suffering with living a life in the spotlight so their decision to leave their royal duties behind wasn’t that shocking.
Finding Freedom‘s authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claim that the Sussexes were not supported during their time in the royal family, prompting their move to exit.
During an interview with Good Morning America, Scobie explained, “History will remember them as a couple that were perhaps failed by the institution of the monarchy, where there was this chance to have a woman of color, an American woman of color, in the house of Windsor representing the monarchy just as much as her husband.”
He added, “That was a chance for the royal family to have diversity, inclusivity, and representation in a way that no other moment in their lives could have brought and for them to not have harnessed that is something that I’m sure historians will be looking at for years to come.”
“They had no choice other than to leave because they both knew that it wasn’t going to continue should they just carry on as they were,” Scobie said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have gone to extremes for their son’s privacy
One of the couple’s priorities, the book reveals, is their need to protect their son Archie. Given Prince Harry’s experience growing up in the royal spotlight, it was a “top priority” to keep Archie away from the “royal fish bowl.”
Among their efforts to maintain Archie’s privacy was the move to not give him a royal title and to keep his christening private. The book’s authors explain how Meghan took issue with the expectation that she should “serve her child on a silver platter.”
The book claims (via Express) that Meghan told a friend, “The same people who have been abusing me want to see me serve my child on a silver platter. A child who is not going to be protected and doesn’t have a title. How does that make sense? Tell that to any mother in the world.”
Further, the book’s authors explain how the couple didn’t want Archie to have Prince Harry’s childhood experience. “Harry, who learned the dark side of growing up in the royal fish bowl early on in his life by watching his mother relentlessly chased by the paparazzi, and Meghan, quickly getting the same lesson, both wanted to ensure their son chose his own destiny rather than being forced into one by virtue of the family he had been born into,” the book’s authors explain.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘put Archie first’
The couple also wanted to take the necessary precautions to keep the paparazzi away and, when they moved to Canada, the authors explain, Prince Harry and Meghan baby-proofed and “tried to paparazzi-proof the property.”
“Additional fencing had been installed around the perimeter to prevent the long camera lenses they knew would eventually show up from interrupting their daily walks with Archie around the wooden landscape and sandy beachfront,” the book notes.
Scobie and Durand discussed the book on BBC Today, with Durand sharing why the Sussexes made their drastic exit decision.
“I think that the decision that the duke and duchess made was really in the interest of their family and they did this because they wanted more privacy, they wanted to step back, they wanted to put Archie first and it was the right decision for this time in their lives,” Durand explained.
