PRINCE Harry wanted to bring up Archie “running barefoot in Africa,” a close pal of the royal has claimed.
Acclaimed primatologist Dame Jane Goodall has revealed the Duke of Sussex, 38, wanted his son, now three, to live in the continent, along with his wife, Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry with Meghan and Archie during their tour of South Africa in 2019
Dame Jane Goodall has revealed Harry wanted his son Archie to grow up in Africa
Prince Harry’s love of Africa is well known, seen here with Meghan in Cape Town in 2019
She said: ”‘He wanted to bring Archie up in Africa, running barefoot with African children.”
Harry and Meghan now have a daughter, Lilibet, aged 17 months as well.
In 2019, plans were revealed by The Celeb Reportday Times that courtiers had devised a plan to hand the Duke and Duchess a major international job that would have seen them move abroad after the birth of Archie.
The prince’s advisors were believed to be working a “bespoke” role for the couple, most likely in Africa, that would mix some work on behalf of the Commonwealth with charity work and a role promoting the UK.
Former British ambassador to the US, Sir David Manning, who was also special adviser on constitutional and international affairs to both Harry and Prince William, is thought to have drawn up the plan.
The plan though never saw the light of day and the couple moved to North America before quitting royal duties.
Any move to Africa would have made it harder for the pair to sign highly lucrative deals with US companies such as Netflix and Spotify.
Harry’s love of Africa is well known and the prince has visited many times.
His former girlfriend Chelsy Davy is from Zimbabwe and he has established a charity to help African orphans, Sentebale, with Prince Seeiso from Lesotho.
Meghan also has an affinity to Africa, telling Ziwe Fumudoh, a Nigerian-American comedian, on her Archetypes podcast last month that a genealogy test had revealed her ancestry was 43 per cent Nigerian.
Doria Ragland, the mum of the former Suits actress, is African-American while her dad, Thomas Markle, is of Dutch-Irish descent.
The Duke of Sussex previously interviewed Dame Jane for the British edition of Vogue which was edited by Meghan in 2019.
In the article she spoke warmly of meeting and cuddling Archie.
In her latest comments about the Duke and Duchess she said: “I don’t talk about them now. Of course, I have my views, and I think Harry cares, I really think he does. My times that I talked with him I just felt that he was a really nice, good person.”
Dame Jane, who is widely regarded as a leading expert on chimpanzees, may be hesitant to say more about her royal pals after the furore sparked by the Vogue chat.
In the piece, Harry commented about the number of kids he wanted that was interpreted as a dig at Prince William and Catherine, who have three children.
Referencing the need to save the planet for future generations, Harry said: “I’ve always had a connection and a love for nature. I view it differently now, without question. But I’ve always wanted to try to ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children.”
Dame Jane asked: “Not too many?” Harry replied: “Two, maximum.”
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In her new interview with The Times, Dame Jane revealed that Harry was not her only royal fan, saying: “I talked with the late Duke of Edinburgh a couple of times. He was fun.”
Regarding King Charles, she said: “He keeps inviting me down to his farm [at Highgrove, Gloucestershire] but I’ve never been able to go. Now that he’s King, who knows?”
Dame Jane described Harry as a ‘really nice, good person’
