Prince Philip Thinks Giving Royal Children ‘Normal Childhoods’ Is Impossible
Since marrying Queen Elizabeth II in 1947, Prince Philip has lived his life in the spotlight. He’s also raised all four of his children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward, on the world stage. He’s an advocate for tradition and doesn’t believe royals should be treated like “normal people.”
In fact, despite Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s hopes for their young son, the Duke of Edinburgh believes giving royal children normal childhoods is not a possibility.
The British royal family was annoyed with the Sussexes secretiveness over Archie’s birth
Since Prince Harry had been a senior working member of the British royal family for the duration of his life, his family was shocked that he suddenly wanted privacy and to shield his young son from the spotlight.
Though there was already tension between Meghan, Harry, and the rest of the royals, the secretiveness surrounding Archie’s birth in May 2019 did not help things.
“There was the deception over the announcement of Archie’s birth, which unlike every other royal birth of modern times took place in total secrecy: Buckingham Palace announced at 2pm on May 6, 2019, that Meghan had gone into labour that morning — when in fact, she had safely given birth to baby Archie eight hours earlier, at 5.26am,” Robert Lacy writes in Battle of Brothers via The Daily Mail. “That was followed by a refusal to make public the names of the godparents.”
RELATED: Is Prince Harry Still Close to Prince Philip, Despite Megxit?
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Prince Philip is not thrilled about Megxit
After giving up his own dreams in the Royal Navy, raising four children in the royal spotlight, and adhering to royal traditions for over 70 years, the Duke of Edinburgh was not thrilled at all about Megxit.
“During his whole life the Duke has shown devotion to the Queen and service to the monarchy and it is likely he will have taken a dim view of Harry and Meghan’s recent activities,” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express. “These included releasing a statement saying they intended to step back as senior royals without warning the Queen and other senior royals.”
In fact, it seems like Prince Philip believes his beloved grandson has moved to California to be a “celebrity.” In her book, Prince Philip Revealed, royal biographer Ingrid Seward writes via People,
Prince Philip has found it hard to understand exactly what it was that made his grandson’s life so unbearable. As far as Philip was concerned, Harry and Meghan had everything going for them: a beautiful home, a healthy son, and a unique opportunity to make a global impact with their charity work…. For a man whose entire existence has been based on a dedication to doing the right thing, it appeared that his grandson had abdicated his responsibilities for the sake of his marriage to an American divorcée in much the same way as Edward VIII gave up his crown to marry Wallis Simpson in 1937.
Prince Philip doesn’t believe royal children are normal
One of Meghan and Harry’s main reasons for leaving the British royal family was because they wanted a quieter life outside of the spotlight. They also wanted Archie to have a normal childhood. However, Prince Philip doesn’t believe royals can be normal children. In his biography, Princess Anne, Nicholas Courtney writes, Prince Philip said via Express,
People talk about normal upbringing. What is a normal upbringing? What you really mean is: was I insisting that they should go through all the disadvantages of being brought up in the way other people are brought up? There’s always this idea about treating them exactly like other children. In fact, it means that they are treated much worse, because they’re known by name and association.It is all very well to say they’re treated the same as everybody else, but it’s impossible.
We can see why the prince takes issue with Megxit.
