When Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born in May 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex eschewed tradition and did things their way.
When announcing their son’s birth, many took issue with the couple choosing a different route instead of following convention steeped in the history of the British monarchy.
Now royal historian and biographer Robert Lacey may have stirred up a hornet’s nest with his latest claims.
In his new book, Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, Lacey alleged Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were less than honest with the press when it came to announcing Archie's arrival.
Even though Archie was born at 5:26am on May 6, 2019, Buckingham Palace didn’t announce anything about the birth until 2pm that afternoon, Yahoo News reported Lacey as saying.
He also claims when the Palace did make an announcement, it was a misleading statement that implied Meghan had just gone into labour, when in reality, she and Harry were already home with Archie by that time.
The British royal family births are announced by an official royal notice, placed on a golden easel. Royal arrivals are heralded with the placement of a gilded easel bearing a framed notice announcing the royal birth in front of Buckingham Palace, according to History.com.
This was not the case with Archie’s birth.
On May 6, Sky News broke the story that Meghan had gone into labour at 1.45pm on Monday, although most other publications didn't receive news from the palace until at least 10 minutes later.
Buckingham Palace then issued a second announcement she had given birth at 2.40pm that same day - just 36 minutes later.
On May 8, Archie’s name was announced via an Instagram post.
Harry and Meghan’s decision apparently angered Prince William, further widening the rift between the two brothers.
“Harry and Meghan were resolute that their newborn baby’s first sight of the world should not be the same insane and lethal camera-flashing that had attended - had actually brought about - the death of Diana,” Lacey wrote in his book.