Archie’s former nanny recalls first meeting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: “I just felt so comfortable…it was just a normal home"

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor

(Image credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo / Future)

published 29 January 2023

Lorren Khumalo, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor's former nanny, has revealed details of her first, surprisingly informal, meeting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Archie's former nanny, who looked after him at Frogmore Cottage, has spoken out about her job role and the first time she met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
She recalled her bubbling nerves as she got ready for the meeting, only to be quickly put at ease by a welcoming Harry and 'beautiful' Meghan.
In other royal news, Prince Harry announces first public appearance since Spare release.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are notoriously protective of their two young children, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Choosing a nanny who can both take care of the children, and who you have enough trust in to avoid the media, must be a difficult and headache-inducing task.

But it appears that Harry and Meghan didn't let the pressure show as they met with Lorren Khumalo, the woman who would soon become Archie's first ever nanny, for the first time.

Paediatric nurse and consultant Lorren Khumalo was employed by Harry and Meghan just months after he was born, according to The Mirror. At the time, the royal family of three were still living at Frogmore Cottage and had not yet stepped down as senior royals.

For the first time, Lorren has opened up about the day she met Harry and Meghan and revealed how her nerves got the better of her on the way there.

Lorren Khumalo and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor

Speaking on an episode of the podcast The Breakfast Club with Zenzele Ndebele, she said, "I thought to myself, 'I wonder how their nannies look, do they wear heels? Prince William has got a Norland Nanny, so they've got a brown uniform that for my skin colour and the way it looks in khaki brown, I knew it wouldn't even go, it would just not work.

"So I [thought] I'll wear something dark and nice kitten heels but I'll look presentable for a royal so I need to do my best. But I didn't use any make-up, I said if they take me, they take me as I am. I wasn't born with a silver spoon, I'm not blue blood, I will go as I am and trust me with my God, I'll get this job."

She also revealed that her nerves led to a speeding ticket as she was driving 'too fast' on her way to the interview.

Archie Mountbateen-Windsor, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

She continued the story, "So I got there and there's lots of checks that they do but when I got there I expected to see a princely somebody, in those very expensive German, Swiss suits or something. He was in his jeans, in a t-shirt, walking barefoot because it was hot.

"And I kept asking his PPO, so his protection officer, 'Do I curtsy, do I have to?' And he just looked at me and laughed and he said, 'You'll see, Prince Harry is amazing'.

"When I got there, the way he opened his arms 'Hello Lorren!' and gave me a hug. [I thought] 'Wow, what a gentleman, what a gem', oh my goodness, I couldn't believe it. And when I walked in and saw Meghan I thought 'My God, what a beautiful woman'. I just felt so comfortable, it wasn't so formal as I expected it to be, it was just a normal home."

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.