Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lied about the time of Archie’s birth

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have always done things their way, and it was no different when it came to announcing the birth of their son Archie.

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a slightly misleading statement announcing Archie's birth.
• Although their reason for doing so was to protect their son from photographers, their decision is said to have angered Prince William.
• This follows royal news that Prince Charles is devastated after not being able to see his grandson for a year. (opens in new tab)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex became parents in May last year and Robert Lacey,  author of Battle of Brothers: William and Harry - The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, has revealed they were slightly misleading when it came to revealing Archie’s birth. 

Robert explains that although Archie was born at 5.26am on 5 May, the palace didn’t make an announcement until 2pm that day - and even that statement suggested Meghan was in labour, when in fact she, Harry and Archie were already at home. 

‘Harry and Meghan were resolute that their newborn baby's first sight of the world should not be the same insane and lethal camera-flashing that had attended — had actually brought about — the death of Diana,’ Robert writes. 

According to Robert,  Harry’s decision to announce Meghan was in labour angered his brother Prince William. 

Robert says, ‘On the morning of 6 May [2019], Meghan was duly delivered of her delayed but healthy son, weighing in at 7lbs 3oz. Baby Archie had arrived with the dawn at 5.26 a.m., allowing grandmother Doria Ragland (opens in new tab) and the happy couple to return to Windsor with their precious cargo undetected.’ 

Although Harry and Meghan’s decision to release the misleading statement was simply to protect their son from the world’s photographers, according to Robert the Duke of Cambridge  ‘did not think too highly of Harry and Meghan’s 'prima donna' manoeuvres to conceal the birth of their son’.