Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marked a special celebration this week (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been warned by a child expert about what the future holds regarding their son, Prince Archie, who celebrated his seventh birthday on Wednesday. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s eldest child, who’s been largely kept out of the public eye, is being raised alongside his younger sister, Princess Lilibet, four, in Montecito, California.
Harry and Meghan have tried to keep their private family life out of the spotlight since stepping down as working royals and moving to the US in 2020. The Sussexes have given sporadic glimpses of their children’s lives over the years, with Harry famously speaking about Archie’s first word during an interview in 2021.
But now, as the Sussex family marked another milestone this week, the Daily Express has spoken to a child psychologist, who has shared insights into what children at Prince Archie’s age experience and what that entails for their parents and, subsequently, Harry and Meghan.
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Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet (Image: Instagram/@meghan)
Dr Frankie Harrison, Clinical Psychologist specialising in perinatal and family mental health and member of the Emma’s Diary medical advisory board, claimed that children at Archie’s age can make sense of more “complex social situations” for the first time, leading them to ask “bigger questions” from their parents.
The Sussex children have rarely seen their royal relatives across the pond due to the ongoing royal feud between their parents and the Firm.
Archie’s last trip back to the UK, the country he was born in, was in June 2022, when his family returned to celebrate the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
Dr Harrison said: “Seven is a significant age developmentally. And it’s important to talk about. Around this time, children move out of more magical, egocentric thinking and into what we’d call concrete operational thinking. They might start to reason things through, connect cause and effect, and make sense of complex social situations in a way they didn’t before. That means questions might get bigger and more direct.”
The clinical expert said that children at Archie’s age may start forming their own sense of identity and be more aware of who they are, where they belong and how their family “fits into the world around them”.
Prince Archie has not been to the UK since 2022 (Image: Getty)
She said: “Family narratives matter here. Kids this age need a more coherent narrative about who they are and where they come from, even if parts of that story are complicated or hard.”
The expert added that it’s also the age when children start becoming more aware of their wider family, including grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and “how present or absent those relationships are”.
It’s been previously reported that King Charles is longing to form a closer relationship with his American grandchildren.
Dr Harrison explained: “If there’s distance, geographical or otherwise, children at this age start to notice and feel that in a way they may not have before. They might ask more questions, be more curious, be more direct.”
She said that parents, subsequently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, can help their children by “acknowledging those questions honestly and age appropriately”.
The child psychologist claimed: “If questions aren’t answered, children tend to fill in the blanks. So, providing concrete, honest narratives is important at this age.
“At seven, children are perceptive. They notice if something is being sidestepped, or if they’re not getting the full story.
“The relationship you’re building right now is the foundation for adolescence. Trust, openness, and the message that no question is too awkward.”