What baby Archie was doing on Meghan and Harry's first day in Africa
The Sussexes kicked off their first tour as a family on Sept. 23
Archie Harrison arrived in Africa for his first official royal tour on Monday, however the four month old was nowhere to be seen after disembarking his flight with parents, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed during one of their engagements on September 23 what their baby boy was up to while they were out and about in Cape Town. During their visit to the District Six Museum, a woman named Somaya Ebrahim asked the royal couple where their son was, to which Harry replied: “He’s sleeping." The dad of one admitted that the family’s long flight from the UK to Africa made Archie “not grouchy, just exhausted.”
Though he did not make a formal appearance on Monday, Archie was not far from his father’s mind. At the Duke and Duchess’ first stop of the day, the Nyanga township, Harry mentioned his baby boy in remarks made to women and girls of South Africa, who are facing gender-based violence. “No man is born to cause harm to women this is learned behavior and a cycle that needs to be broken,” he said. Harry noted that progress would be made through "redefining masculinity.” He explained, “It’s about creating your own footprints for your children to follow in, so that you can make a positive change for the future.” The Duke continued, "Your strength is in your spirit, which for me means honoring and protecting my wife, and being a positive role model for my son [Archie Harrison]."
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Harry and Meghan visited the Nyanga township to learn more about the work of The Justice Desk, which brings together two of the couple’s long-standing interests: youth leadership and women’s rights. The Duke and Duchess were presented by The Justice Desk with a South African Xhosa name for Archie, "Ntsika," which means pillar of strength.
A royal source previously told HOLA! USA’s sister brand HELLO! that Meghan and Harry “hope to include Archie at some point in the program, but it's difficult to schedule. He's five months old. But they hope to." Another source told HELLO! that the couple’s program was designed to allow the Duke and Duchess to be with their son at bath time, bedtime and key times in his routine.
Archie's older cousin Prince George embarked on his first tour back in 2014 when he was eight months old visiting Australia and New Zealand with his parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton. While it's Archie's first tour, he is no stranger to flying. The royal baby racked up plenty of frequent flyer miles this summer jetting off to Ibiza for mom Meghan’s 38th birthday, as well as a holiday in the South of France.
