Critics have accused Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of “deception” and propagating a “lie” about their son Archie’s birthdate. On May 6, 2019, the Buckingham Palace initially announced that Meghan had gone into labour early that day. However, the palace later corrected its statement, claiming her son had already been born at 5:26 in the morning.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also chose to forego the conventional public photo-call post-delivery. Instead, they shared more private first photos of Archie, captured at Windsor Castle a few days after he was born.
Royal historian and author Robert Lacey expressed his shock in the Daily Mail about the secrecy of the child’s birth, and called it “deception.” “There was the deception over the announcement of Archie’s birth, which unlike every other royal birth of modern times took place in total secrecy. Buckingham Palace announced at 2 pm on May 6, 2019, that Meghan had gone into labour that morning – when in fact, she had safely given birth to baby Archie eight hours earlier, at 5.26 am,” Lacey wrote.
Lacey also pointed out how tradition was broken when the Sussexes chose not to reveal the identities of Archie’s godparents. Meghan spoke out about her decision to have a private birth at Portland Hospital in the Sussexes’ Netflix six-parter, saying, “There was already the pressure of the picture on the steps. … But I had been really worried going into that labour, because I’m older, I didn’t know if I’d have to have a c-section, and I had a very longstanding relationship with my doctor, and that’s who I trusted with my pregnancy.”
In the documentary, Harry opened up about the “abuse” they endured for not following royal customs. “The amount of abuse that we got, especially you, but both of us, for not wanting to serve our child up on a silver platter, was incredible,” he said, appearing alongside Meghan.
