Royal Bundle Of Joy

Master Archie made history as the latest addition to the House of Windsor, but the sight of his dad, Prince Harry, overflowing with happiness was an even greater royal milestone, writes Juliet Rieden.

The build-up to the birth of the royal we all knew as “baby Sussex” was filled with suspense and mystery. While the public and we royal reporters ached for any skerrick of information we could garner from the palace, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were resolutely drawing a line in the sand. The couple’s first child would be born privately behind closed doors.

Those doors might be at their new family home, Frogmore Cottage, a stone’s throw from Harry’s granny’s place at Windsor Castle, or at a hospital, but no one would be told. The usual posse of royal fans who traditionally gather to celebrate champagne in hand and especially journalists and photographers were not welcome. Instead, this would be a special intimate moment for this very public couple, the most important in their lives and one they wanted to cherish without the glare of the media spotlight.

The circus that Harry’s mother and father and his brother and sister-inlaw had endured, facing a bank of photographers and journalists on the Lindo Wing hospital steps just hours after the births of their children, was vetoed. The due date was kept secret and we were largely kept in the dark about the circumstances of the birth of the seventh-in-line to the throne until close to nine hours after it had happened.

Many, seeing the monarchy as public property with a duty to share those milestones that end up in the history books, were furious. But it was hardly surprising that Prince Harry was taking this stand. Since the early days of his relationship with Meghan Markle, the divorced American actress he fell head over heels in love with and married a year ago in a wedding ceremony watched by two billion people around the world, Harry has been in white charger mode, protecting his wife from the sort of intrusion he has faced his whole life.