An insider recently revealed why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to break with royal tradition — and it apparently traces back to an incident during Prince George’s birth in 2013.
In 2019, Buckingham Palace issued an official statement from the couple explaining why they chose to keep their child’s birth private.
The statement made it clear that neither Harry nor Meghan would pose for photos outside the hospital — a tradition that other royal family members have followed for years.
Still, despite some people oddly criticizing their decision, being surrounded by a swarm of paparazzi right after having a baby isn’t actually a required part of royal protocol.
However, Dickie Arbiter, who was the late Queen Elizabeth II’s press secretary, suggested that the Duke and Duchess might have chosen to break with tradition because of “bitter lessons” learned when Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first child, Prince George, was born in 2013.
In a 2019 interview on Yahoo UK’s ‘The Royal Box,’ Arbiter said that no media were informed about Meghan going into labour until she was “actually in hospital.”
He explained, “There is a royal household medical team who are called in, but ultimately, they decide when Meghan needs to go to the hospital based on the baby’s due date.”
This approach made the birth of Meghan and Harry’s first child, Prince Archie, in 2019 much more private since the press only found out at the last moment.
Arbiter also pointed out that both Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace “learnt bitter lessons when Prince George was born.”
He added, “The media camped outside the Lindo Wing in Paddington for six or seven weeks, causing disruption to the hospital, ambulances, and people entering or visiting for treatment.”
Back in 2018, when Will and Kate welcomed their third child, Prince Louis, security “laid down the law,” according to Arbiter, making it clear that no one was allowed to wait outside until the mother had actually arrived at the hospital.
Recently, Harry, who shares daughter Princess Lilibet with Meghan, lost his appeal to have his taxpayer-funded security restored.
The father of two called losing security in the UK his “worst fear,” admitting it’s heartbreaking that he “won’t be able to show my children my homeland” due to concerns for his family’s safety.
In a BBC interview, Harry said: “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point.
“My worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case, and that’s really sad.”
The 40-year-old added: “The things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything. I miss the UK, I miss parts of the UK, of course I do.
“I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”