After introducing their newborn son to his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed the name they have chosen for their first child.
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In a touching post on the couple’s joint Instagram account Wednesday, Prince Harry and Meghan announced the royal baby’s highly anticipated name: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
The announcement was accompanied by a photo showing Prince Harry, the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland admiring the baby as his mother cradles him.
The baby’s name was the subject of intense speculation in the days following the boy’s birth on Monday with many expecting the couple to pay tribute to Prince Harry’s late mother Princess Diana by using her maiden name Spencer. Other top contenders included Alexander, Albert, Arthur, and James.
CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen said he was a bit surprised by the name.
“No one saw this one coming,” he told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. “These [names] are personal selections of interest or of some kind of appeal, or maybe when this child actually appeared in their arms the name Archie sprang into their head.”
Berthelsen said there’s no obvious historical significance to the baby’s name.
As for the last name Mountbatten-Windsor, Berthelsen said it’s a nod to the baby’s great-grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose last name is Mountbatten.
Omid Scobie, a royal commentator covering the story in Windsor, said he thinks the lack of title reflects Prince Harry and Meghan’s modernity as a couple.
“Harry and Meghan are very much a 21st century couple in the house of Windsor,” he told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. “They’ve really brought the Royal Family up to date. They’re bringing modernity to the Royal Family that we haven’t seen before. Meghan being American, being half African-American, we now have the first biracial baby in the house of Windsor.”
The photo itself is also a break from tradition, according to Berthelsen, who said the public has never seen an image of the Queen with a great-grandchild so soon after the birth. He said the fact that Ragland was included in the photo conveys an important message from the Royal Family.
“It’s a very strong statement reminding people that this is a biracial marriage, this is an American-U.K. family that has come in to the Royal Family, it’s a very, very important symbol,” he explained.
The news followed an earlier public appearance that day by the duke and duchess and their baby in St. George’s Hall in Windsor Castle where they posed for photos together and answered reporters’ questions.
Wrapped in a white blanket with a matching cap, the royal baby slept soundly as a beaming Prince Harry and his wife showed their child to the world for the first time.
“It’s great,” Prince Harry said. “Parenting is amazing. It’s only been what, two-and-a-half days, three days, but we’re just so thrilled to have our little bundle of joy.”
When asked about what the first days of parenthood have been like, Meghan replied:
“It’s magic. I have the two best guys in the world so I’m really happy.”
The Duchess also said her son had the “sweetest temperament” and is “really calm,” to which her husband joked “I wonder who he gets that from.”
The royal baby was born weighing seven pounds, three ounces on Monday morning, after which the Duke and Duchess took a couple of days with their son, out of the public spotlight at their home in Frogmore Cottage, located near Windsor Castle.
“He’s just been the dream. It’s been a special couple of days,” Meghan said.
As for their son’s looks, the happy couple said they’re still trying to figure out who he resembles.
“Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks, so we’re basically monitoring how the changing process happens over this next month really, but his looks are changing every single day so who knows?” Prince Harry said.
The prince did joke, however, that his son was already sporting some facial hair.
“[It’s] wonderful,” he said as Meghan giggled beside him.
Following Wednesday’s photo call, the couple introduced their son to the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Meghan also said her mother has been staying with them at their cottage on the castle’s estate.
On Tuesday, Prince William said he was “absolutely thrilled” at the news of the birth and said he and his wife Kate were looking forward to meeting the baby in the next few days.
“I’m very pleased and glad to welcome my own brother into the sleep deprivation society that is parenting,” he quipped.
Prince Charles, too, said he was looking forward to meeting his fourth grandchild when he and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, returned from their official visit to Germany.
“We couldn’t be more delighted at the news,” he told well-wishers in Berlin on Tuesday.
The baby is the Queen’s eighth great-grandchild and seventh in line to the throne.
