Royals
Archie’s Nanny Remembers Those Early Years With Archie & His “Hands-On” Parents
“She just took care of, not just Archie, but she took care of us.”
When Meghan Markle gave birth to her first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May 2019, she was blessed to have mom Doria Ragland stay with her for a full month. Someone to help her and Prince Harry transition into their roles as new parents who loved their baby boy. But, as the Duchess of Sussex explained in the couple’s Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, after Ragland left the couple did not have any help with their baby. And that’s was when nanny Lorren Khumalo entered the picture. And she didn’t just take care of baby Archie, she stepped in to nurture the whole family. Especially Meghan.
Khumalo recalled getting the phone call that she was being asked to interview for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the Netflix docuseries. “I remember driving so fast I think I got a ticket. Yes I did,” she said. Khumalo remembered arriving at Frogmore Cottage to find Prince Harry in the garden, walking around barefoot. “And suddenly whatever I thought or felt, the formality, just sort of slid. And I felt so at ease.”
Khumalo was hired by the couple, and has fond memories of those early days with these “hands-on” parents and sweet baby Archie.
Khumalo recalled the couple always being the ones to get up in the morning with Archie, with Meghan feeding the baby before handing off to her when she would take the baby out for a walk. She also introduced the family to her own baby-wearing traditions from Zimbabwe.
“She said, ‘Is it ok if I tie him on my back with a mud cloth like we do in Zimbabwe?’” Meghan recalled, who remembers responding, “Yes! Let’s do that.”
And so she did, with Prince Harry having fond memories of “Archie hugging Lorren’s back, fast asleep. It was brilliant.”
It wasn’t only Archie who benefited from Khumalo’s love. “She just took care of, not just Archie, but she took care of us,” Meghan explained. “She definitely took care of me.”
Khumalo joined the family on tour in South Africa in October, helping out with Archie. A time when, as we now know, Archie’s nursery caught fire, and while he was safe the experience left his nanny “in a flood of tears,” Meghan recalled on her Archetypes podcast. But it was actually Khumalo who saved him as she had stopped before putting him down for his nap to get a snack downstairs and carried Archie on her back to do so.
What a treasure she turned out to be for this family. In more ways than one.
