The baby’s style and title were not the only indications alighted upon by the sceptics, that the internet stories about her bump being a prosthesis might have merit. Archie was allegedly born weighing seven pounds three ounces. This was hardly a huge baby. While it was impossible to discern his size with accuracy during that first interview at Windsor Castle when he was two days old, the internet came alive with comments that he was suspiciously big for a two day old baby whose birth weight had been so slight. The gist of the comments was that, unless Archie had been padded deliberately, which seemed unlikely, his size suggested an infant of his birth weight who was rather older than two days.
Harry’s comments during the interview further fostered the theories about Archie not being born when and to whom it was alleged. Had Harry wanted to increase rather than decrease the rumours about his son’s birth, he could not have done so more effectively than the response he gave when asked who the baby looked like. He said ‘everyone says the baby’s changed so much over two weeks we’re basically monitoring how the changing process happens over the next month.’ This was an extraordinary statement to make. Archie was two days old. Babies don’t change appearance markedly and frequently in a forty eight hour period. Yet here was Harry asserting not only that his son kept on changing appearance over a two week period, but that he had done so to such an extent that it was impossible to say whom he looked like; notwithstanding the baby being officially two days old.
Any student of behaviour looking at that interview can see Harry trying to retrieve his slip of the tongue. Not only does he waffle on about monitoring the changing process over the next month, but he then slips back in that his son has been around but ‘it’s only been the last two and a half to three days….’ Notwithstanding the fact that Archie wasn’t officially more than two days old.
In reality, English and Scottish law are such that Archie Mountbatten-Windsor being the son of a royal prince makes his position very straightforward. If he is the natural and legitimate son of Harry and Meghan gave birth to him, he is not Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor but Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Dumbarton. By law, he would only be Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor if he had been carried by a woman other than Meghan. Whether she is the biological mother is irrelevant under English law. A famous jurist told me, ‘The father is the person who usually registers a child’s birth. If the father informs the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages that the baby had been born to him and his wife, the certificate would be issued without further ado. Hospitals don’t register births. Parents do. And no one checks the information given.’ In such an eventuality, the child would therefore be apparently legitimised but would not be able to succeed to his father’s peerage. And he would have no place in the line of succession, as illegitimate children cannot inherit the Crown.
Nevertheless, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is listed as being seventh in line of succession to the throne. This is on the strength of the birth certificate which was issued stating that Harry is his father and Meghan his mother. A royal told me, ‘You see the mess.’ No prominent family, royal or otherwise, welcomes speculation about the arrival of a child, and the fact that this speculation has been all over the internet has been a monumental embarrassment. While Meghan’s supporters will say that she has every right to conduct herself as she pleases, and the more extreme ones will even say, ‘And damn the consequences,’ one member of the establishment who supports the monarchy expressed the view shared by many of Meghan’s critics on the internet. ‘She’s the one who’s caused all these problems. People pick up on her not being real. That’s the root cause of all of this. She’s incredibly spoilt and utterly selfish. She’s also the most pretentious person anyone will ever meet. Have you seen her handwriting? Almost as contrived as her personality. Her whole life’s an act. Like all people who are basically hollow, she covers it up with all sorts of gush intermingled with unreasonable demands, including wanting a buffer zone between them and everyone else. But he’s completely captivated by her. He truly adores her and I know he honestly believes that she loves him. He’ll do anything to keep her happy. He’s terrified of losing her. I think his feelings are caught up with having lost his mother. Remember: death is the ultimate rejection. He can’t afford to have another Mummy leave him. She mothers him as well as lays it on with a trowel being the little woman to his big man one minute, then the big bad mama to the naughty little boy the next. He goes along with everything because he’s terrified of losing her. He’ll do anything to keep her happy.’
What people on the outside looking in might not realise is how very much the human factor counts in this story. People close to Harry are genuinely worried that he could suffer a total mental breakdown or even commit suicide if his relationship with Meghan should be threatened or fail. A psychologist who knows him told me that he displays all the symptoms of someone who is co-dependent. If Meghan is addicted to success, Harry is addicted to her. People like Nikki Priddy believe that Meghan is tough and will sacrifice anyone or anything if they stand in her way;
