Prince Harry revealed to a family friend he didn’t want Prince Archie to follow in the Queen’s footsteps, just months before he and Meghan Markle left the Royal Family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would be stepping down as working royals in January 2020, and relocated to the US with their son, Archie. Since settling down in America, they’ve welcomed a daughter, Princess Lilibet, and settled into a life far-removed from the rules and protocols in the monarchy.

While their decision to take a step back from the Royal Family came as a huge shock to many, Harry had in fact hinted at their imminent departure from the monarchy during a conversation with close friend Dr Jane Goodall. The anthropologist and conversationist has been a longtime pal of Harry, and she visited him and Meghan shortly after they welcomed Archie in 2019.

Dr Goodall was invited to Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle to be interviewed by the Duke of Sussex for a special Forces for CHANGE edition of Vogue magazine, which was guest-edited by his wife Meghan. Upon arriving at the newly-renovated cottage, which the couple had moved to after tying the knot in 2018, royal author Robert Lacey claimed Dr Goodall was allowed to hold Archie following the interview. “Meghan came into the room as the interview drew to a close. She was holding the newborn Archie tenderly in her arms and she offered the baby to the 85-year-old Goodall,” he wrote in his biography Battle of Brothers.

Dr Goodall recalled the incident in the book, and said she was taken aback by Harry’s blunt response to her joke suggesting Archie needed to be taught the royal way of life. “He was very tiny and very sleepy. I think I was one of the first to cuddle him outside the family. I made Archie do the Queen’s Wave saying, ‘I suppose he’ll have to learn this. Harry’s reaction brooked no doubt, ‘No! He’s not growing up like that,’” she shared.
Just a few months after she met Archie, Harry and Meghan announced they would be stepping down as senior working royals. They’ve been keen to keep their kids out of the limelight, and Archie and Lilibet have yet to attend any public event, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex try to give them a ‘normal’ upbringing away from the Royal Family.

In an interview last year, Harry said he hoped his children have a meaningful relationship with his family, despite his current estrangement. “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution – so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy,” he told People.