Baby Archie: Who are his reported godparents Tiggy Pettifer and Mark Dyer?
Tiggy Pettifer was nanny to Prince Harry and William from 1993 to 1999
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Your support makes all the difference.In May 2019, the world watched in anticipation and excitement as it was announced that Duke and Duchess of Sussex had become parents to a son.
Despite the highly-publicised nature of the occasion, much of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's arrival was shrouded in secrecy, including who had been named the baby’s godparents.
In July 2019, a statement released by Buckingham Palace announced that the baby’s godparents were to remain private “in keeping with their wishes”.
However, according to an article published by The Sunday Times in January 2020, two of the eight-month-old’s godparents include Tiggy Pettifer, the former nanny of the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, and Mark Dyer, former royal equerry (a senior attendant) to the Prince of Wales.
Pettifer, formerly Legge-Bourke, was hired to be Prince Harry and Prince William’s nanny in 1993, following the separation of Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
The nanny fostered close relationships with the royal brothers, once referring to the pair as “my babies”.
She frequently joined them on holiday, and in 1996 attended Prince William’s Fourth of June celebrations at Eton, after being invited by the then-13-year-old in place of his parents.
In 1998 Pettifer received criticism for allowing the princes to abseil without appropriate safety equipment during a trip to the Black Mountains in Gwent, south-east Wales.
The 54-year-old has remained close to Prince Harry and William throughout the years, providing them with support following their mother’s death in 1997.
In 1999, she resigned from her position as nanny when she married former Coldstream Guards officer Charles Pettifer.
Another person who has had a significant role within Prince Harry’s life and was reportedly named a godfather to Archie is former royal equerry Mark Dyer.
According to Penny Junor, author of the 2014 biography Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son, Dyer is “one of the few people who talks some sense into [Prince Harry] at times”.
Dyer served as an equerry for Prince Charles in the mid-1990s and became a mentor to Prince Harry and Prince William following their mother’s death.
The 53-year-old is a trustee of Sentebale, the charity co-founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006.
The aim of the charity is to “help the most vulnerable children in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi get the support they need to lead healthy and productive lives”.
In January 2020, Prince Harry attended a private dinner for the Sentebale charity, during which he explained there was “no other option” for him and Meghan than to step down as working members of the royal family.
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