KEY POINTS

  • Archie Harrison was behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to quit the royal family
  • Prince Harry doesn't want Archie to grow up feeling constrained just like him 
  • Prince Harry's main focus is his family

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell exit reportedly has more to do with their 8-month-old son, Archie and not just the royal couple.

During her interview on BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program, primatologist Jane Goodall claimed to know the reason behind the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision.

“Well, it doesn’t surprise me having met them both. I know that Prince Harry felt constrained and he desperately wants little Archie to grow up away from all the pomp and royalty, I know that,” she said.

Alison Ward, an energy reader, echoed Goodall’s statement by saying that Prince Harry’s main focus right now is his family and not being a royal. During his recent speech, the Duke of Sussex said that his decision to step back was not one that he took lightly.

“Prince Harry is letting the world know he has made the decision based on being the husband and father of their family and that he wasn’t manipulated by Meghan,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Markle’s son also made headlines this week after it was revealed that Prince Philip was the one who encouraged the Sussexes to give Archie the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

Several decades ago, the Duke of Edinburgh was enraged when Queen Elizabeth refused to give their kids his surname. Instead, they were simply known as Windsor.

However, royal historian Hugo Vickers said that it is the Edinburgh surname that Prince Philip wanted his children to have. According to Express, if Prince Philip pushed for his children’s surname to be Edinburgh, Archie would also be known as Archie Harrison Edinburgh.

But at the end of the day, Prince Philip was still more than delighted when the Queen agreed to give their children his Mountbatten surname. And he couldn’t be more pleased when Prince Harry and Markle gave their son the same surname.

Archie was born on May 6 in London.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their son Archie are residing in Los Angeles, California.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan took their baby son Archie on the tour of southern Africa. POOL/HENK KRUGER