There was considerable confusion at the time of the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
And just how the couple managed to successfully keep his arrival private is revealed by Harry in his memoir Spare, which was re-released in paperback last month.
Since Meghan was a week past her due date in May 2019, the couple secretly visited the Portland Hospital to ‘make sure nothing’s wrong’, though they were well-prepared for Archie’s arrival.
‘We got into a nondescript people-carrier and crept away from Frogmore without alerting any of the journalists stationed at the gates,’ Harry writes.
Within two hours of the birth, the couple had returned to Frogmore Cottage without arousing any suspicion.
Their doctor decided it was time to induce labour, and Meghan was given a canister of laughing gas to help ease the process.
Meanwhile, Harry, who had ordered Nando’s via his bodyguards, took a hit from the gas meant for his wife.
‘I took several slow, penetrating hits. Meg, bouncing on a giant purple ball, a proven way of giving nature a push, laughed and rolled her eyes.
‘I took several more hits and now I was bouncing too,’ Harry reveals.
‘When her contractions began to quicken and deepen, a nurse came and tried to give some laughing gas to Meg. There was none left. The nurse looked at the tank, looked at me, and I could see the thought slowly dawning: Gracious, the husband’s had it all.’
Fortunately, the nurse saw the humour in the situation and replaced the canister for Meghan.
The duchess settled into the bath, immersing herself in the calming sounds of Deva Premal’s Sanskrit mantras, which had been remixed into hymns.
Harry set the ambiance by arranging electric candles – the same ones he had used during his proposal to Meghan – around the room.
Among the items in her overnight bag was a framed photograph of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
He noted in his memoir that this touching tribute was Meghan’s idea.
Despite Meghan’s efforts to breathe through the discomfort, the intensity became overwhelming and she ultimately had to receive two epidurals.
‘The anaesthetist hurried in. Off went the music, on went the lights,’ Harry writes.
There was a brief moment of concern when the umbilical cord was discovered to be wrapped around the baby, but soon after, their healthy son was born.
Harry reflects on this experience in his book, offering an intimate glimpse into their journey through childbirth.
‘A nurse swept the baby into a towel and placed him on Meg’s chest and we both cried to see him, meet him,’ he says.
‘Our ayurvedic doctor had advised us that, in the first minute of life, a baby absorbs everything said to them. So whisper to the baby, tell the baby your wish for him, your love. Tell.
‘We told.’
Within two hours of Meghan giving birth, she and Harry had returned to Frogmore Cottage.
It was only at this point that an announcement was made about Meghan going into labour, leading to a disagreement between the prince and his head of communications, Sara Latham.
‘I had a tiff with Sara about that. You know she’s not in labour any more, I said.
‘She explained that the Press must be given the dramatic, suspenseful story they demanded.
‘But it’s not true, I said.’
The couple’s swift return home and the timing of the announcement sparked significant media attention and speculation surrounding the birth of Archie.
A few hours later, Harry spoke to journalists outside the stables at Windsor to reveal his son’s name.
‘The papers were incensed. They said we’d pulled a fast one on them,’ he writes.
‘Indeed we had.’