Prince Harry “hugged” his son’s future nanny when she arrived for a job interview.
Lorren Khumalo worked for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shortly after their first child Archie was born in May 2019 and she recalled being stunned by “what a gem” the 38-year-old prince was when it came to putting her at ease when they first met to discuss the position.
The Zimbabwean-born nurse told how she asked Harry’s protection officer if she needed to curtsey before she went in for her interview.
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She said: “And he just looked at me and laughed and he said, ‘You’ll see, Prince Harry is amazing.’
“When I got there, the way he opened his arms ‘Hello Lorren!’ and gave me a hug.
“(I thought), ‘Wow, what a gentleman, what a gem’, oh my goodness, I couldn’t believe it. And when I walked in and saw Meghan I thought, ‘My God, what a beautiful woman’.
“I just felt so comfortable, it wasn’t as formal as I expected it to be, it was just a normal home.”
Before her interview, Lorren agonised over what to wear after seeing photos of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s nanny, Maria Barrallo, in her distinctive Norland uniform of beige crested dress, tie, felt hat and loafers.
Speaking on “The Breakfast Club with Zenzele Ndebele”, she said: “I thought to myself, ‘I wonder how their nannies look, do they wear heels?’
“Prince William has got a Norland Nanny, so they’ve got a brown uniform that for my skin colour and the way it looks in khaki brown, I knew it wouldn’t even go, it would just not work.”
She eventually settled on a smart outfit and kitten heels to “look presentable for a royal”.
She said: “But I didn’t use any make-up, I said if they take me, they take me as I am.
“I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, I’m not blue blood, I will go as I am and trust me with my God, I’ll get this job.”