Harry and Meghan parenting styles revealed by Archie’s former nanny in new Netflix episodes
Archie’s former nanny described the moment she met Prince Harry, revealing he was ‘walking around barefoot’ outside of the marital home Frogmore Cottage.
Lorren Khumalo, from Zimbabwe, speaks in the couple’s new Netflix show, revealing she got a speeding ticket on the way to Frogmore Cottage after getting the call to work for the couple.
However, she said that meeting Prince Harry instantly put her at ease.
‘When I arrived at Frogmore cottage I see this guy he’s tall, he’s ginger and walking barefoot and I have got these new shoes from Clarks and suddenly whatever I thought or felt the formality just sort of slid and I felt so at ease,’ she recalled.
Lorren Khumalo, who is Meghan and Harry’s former nanny, asked the couple is she could wrap Archie in a mud cloth like they do in Zimbabwe, the Duchess enthusiastically agreed
The professional nanny currently works as a neonatal intensive care (NICU) and pediatric nurse at private maternity hospital the Portland,in Westminster.
The Portland hospital is where royal women have given birth for generations and the palace where both Prince Harry and his son Archie were born.
After Archie’s birth Meghan’s mother Doria was at Frogmore Cottage for a month, and was present when her daughter brought Archie home from the hospital.
The Duchess said: ‘My mom stayed for a month solid, and it was great to have her there.
‘But we were in a position where we didn’t have someone to help us with Archie.’
Lorren recalled the day she was asked to work for the couple, saying: ‘I had this phonecall and they were like “Prince Harry and Meghan want to see you, they want to talk to you about being a nanny to Archie”.
The Duchess of Sussex says that Lorren looked after Archie, but also looked after her as well during her time with the family
Lorren, pictured above, admits that she got a speeding ticket for rushing over to Frogmore Cottage
The NICU nurse works at the Portland Hospital in Westminster, where for generations royal women have given birth – including Meghan Markle
The NICU nurse works at the Portland Hospital in Westminster, where for generations royal women have given birth – including Meghan Markle
‘I said, “Hang on I need to sit down”. I remember just driving so fast, I got a ticket actually, yes I did.’
Lorren described how the couple were ‘really hands on parents’ and they would come in to see baby Archie in the morning, and feed him before the nanny would take over from them and take the newborn out for a stroll.
The Duke of Sussex is seen feeding his son with a spoon as he sits in a sushi-themed high chair, gazing up at his father in previously unseen footage of the Sussexs’ home life.
Pictures of Archie wrapped in a traditional African mudcloth were revealed, a nod to Meghan and Harry’s link to the country – the pair spent time in Botswana doing charity work and before they both embarked on charity missions to the continent. The cotton mudcloth has cultural significance in Africa, and is used as ritual protection and a symbol of status.
Lorren asked the couple if she could wrap Archie in a mudcloth, and Meghan enthusiastically agreed.
The Duchess said: ‘She said is it OK if I tie him on my back with a mudcloth? Like we do in Zimbabwe? I said, “Yes let’s do that”.
Prince Harry is seen feeding Archie in his sushi themed high chair – Lorren described the Sussexes as ‘hands on’ parents
A picture was then shown of Archie wrapped in a yellow and brown cloth nestled against Lorren’s back, the photo was taken in the kitchen at Frogmore Cottage, where a cream Aga woodburner can be seen in the background.
Prince Harry smiled as he described the moment, saying Archie had his arms wrapped around Lorren, fast asleep and Meghan appeared delighted, laughing along with her husband.
She said of nanny Lorren: ‘She didn’t just take care of Archie she took care of us, she definitely took care of me.’
The pair spoke about their first royal engagement after the birth of their first child, where they took Archie with them on a tour to South Africa when he was just four months old.
Harry widens his arms to show how Archie was hugging Lorren while in his yellow and brown mudcloth
Lorren described the tour as ‘full on’ and said: ‘It was a lot of pressure, the tour was full on. I thought how are you doing this? And still have a smile on your face, because she did smile.’
The South Africa tour marked the moment Meghan first made a public comment about her own mental health, she admitted things had been ‘a struggle’.
She told journalist Tom Bradby for the 2019 documentary An African Journey: ‘Thank you for asking, not many people have asked if I’m ok, it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.’
Meghan said: ‘I never thought they would use it in the documentary, I was just grateful somebody seemed to ask me something like I was a human being.
‘I had no idea that would be the thing that travelled around the world, that’s what spawned the hashtag We Love You Meghan.’
Harry, noting the 70,000 tweets using the new hashtag said: ‘It helped so many other women feel seen.’
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan – part of the Sussexes’ multi-million-dollar deal with Netflix – were streamed last week, with the final three hour-long episodes streaming from today.
The Sussexes’ six-part show – which forms part of their multimillion-pound deal with Netflix – has become the streaming giant’s most-watched documentary in a premier week, debuting with 81.55 million hours viewed.
The initial tranche covered the couple’s courtship and romance, but many were left deeply unhappy about the programme’s assault on the late Queen’s Commonwealth legacy, with some saying it seemed as if the couple want to ‘bring down the monarchy’.
Harry also let rip with a string of sly digs at his family, particularly his father and brother, including the suggestion that they had married not for love but to a woman who fitted ‘the mould’.
The duke also said members of his family questioned why Meghan needed more protection from the media than their wives had been given, but that they failed to grasp the ‘race element’.
The claims made in the trailer yesterday were quickly declared by royal experts as ‘nonsense’, while one commentator said the series was clearly a ‘form of revenge’.
In one clip, Meghan’s British privacy lawyer Jenny Afia insisted she had seen evidence of the conspiracy against the Duchess before Lucy Fraser – real name Lucy Meadmore – a former PR manager who was a mystery figure until a week ago, says ‘Meg became this scapegoat for the Palace’.
The Duchess herself also suggested she was made a scapegoat, adding: ‘You would see it play out. A story about someone in the family would pop up for a minute, and they’d go: ‘We’ve got to make that go away’.’
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