Meghan Markle and Prince Harry share birthday video of Archie
Storytime with Archie! Birthday boy is the image of his father as Meghan Markle reads him Duck! Rabbit! in footage filmed by proud dad Prince Harry
- Birthday boy Archie is the spitting image of Prince Harry in a family video shared on social media today
- Meghan Markle, 38, dressed down in a denim shirt as she read a children’s book to her son at home
- The one-year-old showed off his first teeth as he smiled at his father, who was stood behind the camera
- Video was shared by Save the Children Instagram account as part of a celebrity-backed fundraising campaign
By Stephanie Linning For Mailonline
Published: 07:08 EDT, 6 May 2020 | Updated: 11:28 EDT, 6 May 2020
With his cheeky grin and head of strawberry blonde hair, birthday boy Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is the spitting image of his father Prince Harry in an adorable family video shared on social media this morning.
Archie, who turns one today, shows off his first teeth as he smiles at his father behind the camera while mother Meghan Markle, 38, reads him children’s book Duck! Rabbit!.
The sweet video, filmed last weekend in California, was met with great excitement from royal fans, who noted how much Archie looked like Harry, 35, at the same age.
The video was shared on the Save the Children Instagram account this morning and is part of a celebrity-backed fundraising campaign launched in the US by Hollywood star Jennifer Garner, who is friends with Meghan.
It comes after the Queen led senior royals including Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in wishing Archie a happy first birthday on Instagram.
With his cheeky smile and head of strawberry blonde hair, birthday boy Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is the spitting image of his father Prince Harry in an adorable family video shared on social media today, pictured
Royal fans noted how much baby Archie looks like his father Prince Harry at the same age (seen right) in the new video
Dozens of royal fans said one-year-old Archie looks like a ‘mini’ version of his father as they wished him a happy birthday
The video was posted on Save the Children UK’s Instagram page in support of the charity’s #SavewithStories campaign, which aims to raise funds for children and families struggling due to the coronavirus crisis in the UK and around the world.
A string of A-listers have taken part in the campaign, including Eddie Redmayne, Jennifer Garner and Lily James.
A caption with the video said: ‘Duck! Rabbit!’ with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex (and Harry, The Duke of Sussex behind the camera), read to their son Archie for his 1st birthday. Happy Birthday, Archie!’
In the video, Archie is dressed in a simple short white romper while Meghan is dressed down in a loose-fitting denim shirt, which she accessorised with a stack of beaded bracelets.
Fans were delighted to be given an updated look at the toddler, who appears to be taking after his father’s colouring. One posted: ‘OMG he is Prince Harry’s double!’ Another wrote: ‘Archie is Harry’s mini me’.
Another added: ‘Oh my god! He is Harry’s twin wow! What a adorable boy!! King Archie rules!’
Others praised Harry and Meghan for showing the ‘realities’ of parenting, with the video showing Archie wriggling around in his mother’s lap.
Meghan read with one arm wrapped around her son, who appeared interested in moving around, and tried to keep Archie interested by making duck noises and nuzzling into his face.
Archie sports a full head of hair and is wearing a T-shirt in the video, while Meghan, 38, is radiant in a casual denim shirt
Eager to keep Archie engaged in the book, the former actress makes duck sounds and nuzzles into the toddler as she reads
Meghan pointed to the words and pictures in the book while one-year-old Archie grabbed onto the pages
The video was posted on Save the Children UK’s Instagram page in support of the charity’s Save with Stories campaign. The couple follow a string of A-listers who have taken part
A book which teaches a lesson on right versus wrong and differing points of view
Duck! Rabbit! was written by American author and short film-maker Amy Krouse Rosenthal (pictured)
Meghan’s choice of Duck! Rabbit! suggests an early desire in the duchess to teach her son to see both sides of an argument.
Published in 2009, the story features two unseen people debating whether the creature before them is a duck or a rabbit, with each making arguments to push their case. The book was read at the White House in 2010 during the Easter Egg Roll.
It was written by American author and short film-maker Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who published more than 30 children’s books between 2005 and her death aged 51 in 2017.
She is the only author to have three children’s books make the Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy list in the same year and is best known for her memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.
Rosenthal, who had three children, was a frequent contributor to TED and gave talks at TEDxSanDiego 2011 and at TEDxSMU 2012. She delivered her first, and most renowned, TED talk ‘Notes on Life’ at TEDxWaterloo in Canada in 2010.
Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Hallmark Magazine, Parenting, O: The Oprah Magazine and McSweeney’s. Her website, whoisamy.com, was named one of the best official author websites, alongside Barbara Kingsolver and Stephen King.
Rosenthal announced she was terminally ill with ovarian cancer on March 3, 2017, by way of an essay entitled Modern Love, published in the New York Times. The essay took the form of a dating profile for her husband Jason, intended to help him remarry after her death. She died 10 days later at her Chicago home.
Taking to social media, parents praised the Duchess for capturing the realities of family life, with one commenting: ‘So real!!!!! What parent hasn’t had their young child lose attention during a story?’.
Another added: ‘Oh my heart! So cute! The struggles of reading with a toddler on your lap is real! My little one also wants to read every other book besides the one mommy is reading.’
The Sussex family are in lock-down in their Los Angeles home after California governor Gavin Newsom issued a ‘stay-at-home’ order in the state.
A royal expert said Harry and Meghan plan to treat Archie to an ‘organic, sugar-free cake’, a splash around in their pool and a video call with the Cambridge children as part of his birthday celebrations.
Proud mother Meghan is seen holding the book with one hand and sitting with the other wrapped around her smiling son
Why Meghan sounds American again: Linguistic expert reveals Duchess of Sussex has her native accent back as she’s no longer displaying ‘linguistic accommodation’
By Bridie Pearson-Jones for MailOnline
Meghan Markle’s accent has returned to her natural Californian as she is ‘relaxed’ and is no longer displaying ‘linguistic accommodation’, an expert revealed.
Speaking to Femail, Tony Thorne, a language consultant at King’s College, London explained: ‘There’s a thing called linguistic accommodation where you change the way you talk to fit in with the people around you.
‘This is very very common even within the UK, if you’re speaking to a Geordie, someone from Liverpool or an Australian you begin to very slightly change your accent to become closer to them.’
During Meghan’s time in the UK, fans noted that her accent appeared to becoming more British as she spent more time in the country.
Viewers said Meghan Markle sounded British in a 2018 ITV documentary, Queen of Her World, where she appeared to reunite with her wedding dress
Tony continued: ‘For most people if they’re authentic and sincere they will keep their basic accent with slight changes. I’ve seen friends from London move to Newcastle – and you’ll start to hear bits of comments of the local accent.
‘It might take a normal person six months or a year for their accent to change, but when you’re a celebrity and have to be on show and are super self-conscious about image it will happen faster. I don’t think its surprising that it would be a more conscious choice for someone like Meghan, as she’s tries to project herself in a way that will fit in with environment.’
Tony, who knew Princess Diana ‘slightly’, added that he doesn’t imagine Prince Harry’s accent will become American despite the move to California – but the current generation of royals have eased their accents to sound more like a common Brit.
‘The British ruling classes are very attached, so I can’t imagine Meghan’s husband sounding American,’ he said. That said, since Princess Diana joined the family, the royals have modified their natural accent to sound less posh.
‘I was very conscious when she changed her accent, then William and Harry did too. They use the ‘non-posh’ glottal stop – so they pronounce words like ‘bottle’ as ‘bot-al’ to sounds less like the extreme British upper class. This is why the young royals sound very different to the Queen or Prince Philip.
‘Now Meghan is back in California, she’s reverting to her natural accent. It maybe not the same as her parents or what she had as a young girl – but it’s a glamorous, educated, prestigious Californian accent which is, much more relaxed than a British accent or even an American east coast accent.
‘Nobody can tell if she’s made a conscious decision to change her voice, but she’s very bright and aware and under intense scrutiny so I think it would be understandable if she did.’
This morning the Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall all took to Instagram to share public well-wishes to Archie.
A post on the monarch’s official Twitter account said: ‘Happy Birthday to Archie Mountbatten-Windsor who is celebrating his first birthday today! Archie is The Queen’s eighth great-grandchild.’
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on their official Kensington Palace Instagram account, said: ‘Wishing Archie a very happy first birthday today!’
While Prince Charles and Camilla said on the Clarence House Instagram account: ‘A very Happy Birthday to Archie, who turns one today.’
Royal expert Katie Nicholl revealed yesterday how the couple plan to celebrate Archie’s first birthday, telling OK! magazine: ‘The Queen will wish him happy birthday this week via Zoom as will the Cambridge children.
‘They haven’t seen their little cousin in months so they’ve been looking forward to seeing how much he’s grown.’
Meanwhile fans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are celebrating baby Archie’s birthday having raised over £40,000 for a fundraiser.
Supporters of the couple are marking the big day with the hashtag #ArchieDay on social media. After officially launching the campaign earlier this month, they urged others to share donations with charities to help vulnerable children impacted by coronavirus in countries which Meghan and Harry hold dear to their hearts, including Canada America, South Africa and the UK.
The initiative, which has now raised over £40,000 for the four charities, posted on its official Instagram today, writing: ‘It’s here, it’s here! Happy Archie Day and happy birthday, Archie! You have the rest of today to celebrate Archie!’
The Queen was among the first to wish baby Archie a Happy Birthday. She is pictured being introduced to baby Archie in May last year. Little Archie Harrison was introduced to the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Meghan’s mother Doria by his proud parents
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also shared their best wishes with baby Archie. The couple shared a photograph of Archie from his christening. The official christening photograph released by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shows the Duke and Duchess with their son, Archie and (left to right) the Duchess of Cornwall, The Prince of Wales, Ms Doria Ragland, Princess Diana’s sisters Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duchess of Cambridge in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle
Prince Charles and Camilla also shared their best wishes with baby Archie who turns one today. The couple shared a photograph of Archie with in his father’s arms following his christening in July 2019
Launching the campaign officially earlier this month, fan account @Archie_day urged others to help ‘celebrate Archie’s birthday with a global party’, before listing a series of charities selected for the ‘desire to help children.’
Among the charities chosen was British organisation WellChild, which is a patronage of Prince Harry’s, with donations quickly wracking up to over £8,000 in a matter of weeks.
Another of the three charities chosen by the group was the Nourish Eco Village in South Africa, where Prince Harry and Meghan performed their final royal tour in November.
Fans of the couple have now raised over £14,000 for the charity, which provides food to children from impoverished families in rural communities that rely on schools to get a meal daily.
Followers of the Sussexes have been hosting a fundraiser for the past month in honour of the youngest royal’s birthday today
The campaign was launched in April to mark Archie’s first birthday today, with fans encouraged to donate to a series of charities to celebrate the day
Canadian charity Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, which was chosen because ‘Canada has always been central to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s love story and relationship’, have been donated £6,919 as part of the campaign.
Fans were also directed to the organisation Children’s Aid, which helps children living in poverty in America to honour the Duchess’ home country, with over £12,100 donated to their cause.
Launching the campaign last month, fan account @Archie_Day shared an image which read: ‘Motivated by the pure joy of Archie’s arrival and the very serious circumstances of our time, we introduce a campaign to honour his first birthday and to promote the principles we hold dear. Community, kindness and compassion.’
The image, which was shared by multiple fan accounts on social media as they launched the coordinated campaign read: ‘Before COVID-19 became an ominous presence in our lives, a group of us got together ot organise a fundraising campaign to honour the principles emphasized by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their humanitarian efforts: community, kindness, and compassion for vulnerable people and ecologies.’
It went on to explain that the group hoped to build on the success of previous fundraising efforts, including last year’s #GlobalSussexBabyShower, which was launched by a Meghan fan account, called for users to celebrate Mother’s Day by donating to some of the Duchess’ favourite charities and patronages.
