Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Do they prefer the U.S. for raising Archie?

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle have settled down in Santa Barbara, CA on a lovely tree-filled estate with plenty of room to grow. Could this be the best place for the couple to raise young Archie?

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle took part in an episode of the Teenager Therapy podcast, and gave some insight into what living in Santa Barbara has been like for their family. Meghan expressed gratitude for having “blue skies and fresh air and green space” at their home, and also revealed that son “Archie loves birds,” which is really sweet.

Prince Harry talked about their new home and explained, “We’ve felt incredibly grateful and fortunate to be able to have outdoor space where our son can walk his first steps. It reminds me of how many people are just stacked on top of each other and have been for months after months after months and what that must do to people’s mental health.”

Harry & Meghan’s handful

In a rare interview, Prince Harry & Meghan Markle gave some insight into how little Archie is growing up—and it seems like the one-and-a-half-year-old is quite a handful. “We are doing well,” Meghan told the Evening Standard. “[Archie] is so good. We are very lucky with our little one. He is just so busy, he is all over the place. He keeps us on our toes. We are just so lucky.”

Like other children his age, Archie has some hilarious habits. Royal journalist Omid Scobie reported that Archie has a tendency to crash his parents’ video calls. “I loved discovering [Harry and Meghan’s] daily Zoom calls with the various initiatives & people that they work with,” Scobie said on his podcast, The HeirPod. “And how Archie is no stranger to climbing in front of the web camera and making little impromptu cameos.”

Rugby rumble

Harry, Meghan, & Archie are residing in their new Santa Barbara home, along with their  dogs Guy & Pula, – a beagle and a Black Labrador respectively. In August, Harry told a group of rugby players that his son was “loving it” in California—but he was having a little trouble finding a specific item for Archie.

“It is fantastic… What I need is a few mini rugby balls that I can then get Archie involved with the game because at the moment it is impossible to find any,” the Duke said. “But I got a little bit of space outside which we are very fortunate to have.”

“So, I need to get him playing some rugby league. But I am just unbelievably fortunate and grateful to have outdoor space and to see my son be able to be outside. Because I know just so many people have not had the opportunity in the last five months. So, our little man is our number one priority,” Prince Harry continued.

Growing up with granny

There’s probably more than one reason the Sussexes chose Santa Barbara for their home. One reason, of course, is Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland lives there, so Prince Harry & Meghan’s son Archie can spend more time with his grandmother as he grows up. Of course, the couple will split their time between the U.S. and the UK in order for Archie to maintain a relationship with his British family.

Mother’s love

Another possible reason California was their choice is that Prince Harry’s late mother Princess Diana was a huge fan of the U.S. It was reported that she’d considered moving to the U.S. in the year following her divorce from Prince Charles, so Harry may have been influenced by this link to his mother.

In November 2019, Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell confirmed that she had hoped to spend more time there during an episode of Loose Women. “Diana was also deciding to spend some of her time in America,” he explained to the panel.

“In fact, the day she died, on her desk were plans of a home in Malibu in California, which she was in the process of purchasing. She was going to take William & Harry for three, four weeks every year to America to give them a different culture, to give them a different insight into life,” recounted Burrell. Prince Harry & Meghan’s home in Santa Barbara is just one hour away from Malibu.

Legislative homage

Perhaps a telling point, last year Prince Harry admonished the press for its unrelenting coverage of his wife Meghan and said he was fearful that history would repeat itself, a reference to his mother, Princess Diana, who was constantly trailed by paparazzi. She died in Paris in 1997 after her car crashed while trying to avoid photographers. Her death prompted lawmakers in California to adopt anti-paparazzi legislation.