Prince Harry has revealed his daughter 10-month-old daughter Lilibet has ‘taken her first steps’ and is ‘trying to keep up with her big brother Archie’.
In an interview with People magazine, the Duke of Sussex, 37, revealed he ‘can’t wait’ to take his children to the Invictus Games in the future and that Archie, who turns three next month, wants to follow in his footsteps to become a helicopter pilot.
The royal, who is currently at the Invictus Games in The Hague, added he’s a ‘proud papa’ and that little Archie ‘loved’ videos of wheelchair basketball and rugby that he showed him from the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018.
‘I showed him how some were missing legs and explained that some had invisible injuries, too,’ he said. ‘Not because he asked, but because I wanted to tell him. Kids understand so much, and to see it through his eyes was amazing because it’s so unfiltered and honest.’
He added: ‘When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot — a helicopter pilot obviously — or Kwazii from Octonauts,’ referring to a daredevil cat from a children’s cartoon.
‘But what I remind him is that no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it’s your character that matters most, and nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today,’ he added.
Prince Harry has revealed his daughter Lilibet has ‘taken her first steps’ and is ‘trying to keep up with her big brother Archie’. Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet are pictured on their Christmas card last year
Speaking about the Invictus Games – where wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women compete, he went on: ‘Being a dad certainly adds another emotional layer to it.
‘When I was in the Army, I promised myself I would be out before having a wife and kids, because I couldn’t imagine the heartache of being apart for so long during deployment, the risk of possibly getting injured, and the reality that my family’s lives could be changed forever if that happened.’
Lilibet has not met the Queen or Prince Charles, while little Archie hasn’t seen his paternal grandparents or great-grandparents since he was six months old.
Senior royal sources described the meeting as ‘very cordial’ and ‘incredibly warm and good natured’. Harry and Meghan reportedly opened the door to return from the US for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and told her of their plans to visit again so she can spend time with the children.
The Queen is yet to meet her great-granddaughter, Lilibet, who was named after Her Majesty’s childhood nickname. Archie – seventh in line to the British throne – is almost three months old and reports have previously hinted at the Queen’s sadness at not having the chance to spend more time with him.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, 40, made a visit to the Queen this week and told her she will be able to hug her great-grandchildren in ”the near future’ according to reports.
In an interview with People magazine , the Duke of Sussex , 37, revealed he ‘can’t wait’ to take his children to the Invictus Games in the future and that Archie, who turns three next month, wants to follow in his footsteps to become a helicopter pilot. Meghan and Harry are pictured at the games
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Harry’s comments comes as Buckingham Palace officials were today preparing for further bombshell revelations from Prince Harry after a major US TV network announced that he had given them a sit-down interview during the Invictus Games.
NBC’s Today show revealed that the Duke of Sussex had spoken to presenter Hoda Kotb while in the Netherlands about ‘the Invictus Games, his surprise visit with the Queen and life with his wife Meghan Markle’.
The chat will be previewed on NBC Nightly News tonight, which airs at 11.30pm UK time (6.30pm Eastern Time, in New York) – and then shown in full tomorrow on the Today programme from 12pm UK time (7am Eastern Time).
The Palace will be concerned that Harry could make further claims about the Royal Family only a year after his infamous interview to Oprah Winfrey on CBS in which he and Meghan accused unnamed royals of racism.
The Duke has a deeply strained relationship with his family – especially his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William – and missed last month’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey for his grandfather Prince Philip.
Harry’s meeting with the Queen and Charles last Thursday before he arrived in The Hague was supposedly secret, but he has already revealed that it was ‘great to see her’ – and could now give more details about their discussion.
The royal, who is currently at the Invictus Games in The Hague, added he’s a ‘proud papa’ and that little Archie ‘loved’ videos of wheelchair basketball and rugby that he showed him from the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018. Meghan and Harry are pictured with Archie in South Africa in 2019
The Duke has already said that his grandmother ‘had plenty of messages for Team UK’ which he had already passed on and told the BBC yesterday: ‘It was great to see her and I’m sure she would love to be here if she could.’
Royal aides will be concerned about details from a private meeting being divulged, which come on top of fears over what could be contained in his forthcoming memoirs and Netflix documenting his every move at the Games.
The Duke has already been accused in recent days of using his platform at the Games to promote BetterUp, the California mental health start-up for whom he is ‘chief impact officer’ – after the two announced a partnership.
Meanwhile today, Harry played table tennis and virtual golf today as his visit to the Games continued alone after his wife Meghan, 40, left him in The Hague to fly home to their children Archie and Lilibet at their $14m home in California.
Earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex spoke of his drive to ‘make the world a better place’ for his children and said that people ‘shouldn’t bring children into the world’ unless they’re willing to improve it for them.
Speaking with the Netherlands ‘ Kindercorrespondent reporters during the Invictus Games at The Hague, Harry said he wanted his two young children to grow up ‘in a fairer world, a safer world, a more equal world’.
‘It’s not going to be easy but I will never, ever, ever rest until I have as a parent at least tried to make the world a better place for them because it is our responsibility that the world is the way it is now,’ the Duke told the child reporters, aged 11 and 12.
‘I don’t think that we should be bringing children into the world unless we’re going to make that commitment to make it better for them. We cannot steal your future.’
While in the Netherlands, the Duchess of Sussex revealed she is missing her two young children.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, hug Lisa Johnston, a former army medic and amputee, who celebrates with her medal at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, April 17, 2022
Meghan made the confession as she sat in of a reading to a group of 12 children in a private event held in the Zuiderpark on the second day of the event.
She told British army veteran James Stride that she had wanted to attend the reading as it meant she was around children, and they reminded her of her own back home in California.
‘Meghan was quite chatty and told me she was missing her children,’ said James, one of the GB competitors in the games being held in The Hague.
‘She said she wanted to be with children as she was missing her own.’
Speaking with Dutch Kindercorrespondent reporters during the Invictus Games at The Hague, Harry said he wanted his two young children, Archie and Lilibet – known as Lili – to grow up ‘in a fairer world, a safer world, a more equal world’
The couple’s first trip to Europe is understood to be the longest they have been apart from their two young children.
Harry has previously spoken at length about his desire to improve the world for his children, and has openly discussed how he is trying to ‘break the cycle of pain and suffering’ of his own upbringing with Archie and Lilibet.
‘I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on,’ The Duke said in an interview with ITV last year.
‘It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say ”you know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you”.’