Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were ‘torn’ over names for son Archie

Couple are parents to son Archie Harrison and daughter Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana

(Getty Images)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have revealed they were torn over what to name their son, whose full name Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor has a special meaning.

During the Invictus Games, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that the couple could not decide whether to choose Archie or Harrison as a first name for their first child. Games competitor Sherry McBain told the PA that Meghan admitted to her love for the name Harrison after McBain’s wife Mandy, and their son called Harrison, attended a children’s book reading with the duchess at The Hague.

“She was like: ‘Harrison, that’s Archie’s middle name,’ and Mandy was like: ‘Yeah, I know,’” McBain, who is a nursing officer in the RAF, recalled. “They were just having a chat because Harry and Meghan couldn’t decide between Archie and Harrison for the first name.”

McBain, who lives in Southampton, also called Meghan “really open” and “very friendly” during the childrens’ event. "My little boy Harrison was just over the moon that a princess has read him a story, so that went down really well with all the UK children,” she said.

Over the weekend, Markle sat in on a reading to children in a private event held in the Zuiderpark, where British army veteran and one of the Games competitors James Stride read an extract from his book of choice, Hairy Maclary. He told theDailyMail that Meghan had confessed she wanted to attend the reading because she wanted to be around children as she was missing her own.

He added that the duchess was “very friendly” and that she also read Hairy Maclary to Archie and Lilibet back home.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their two-year-old son Archie on 6 May 2019. The German name Archie, short for Archibald, means “genuine”, “bold” and “brave”. Harrison, on the other hand, means “son of Harry,” making it a fitting tribute to the duke. According to the Office for National Statistics, Archie entered the top 10 names for boys in England and Wales for the first time in 2020, and surged in popularity from 19th place to ninth.

The couple are also parents to their 10-month-old daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana, born on 4 June 2021. The first name, Lilibet, is a nod to the Queen’s nickname, while her middle name is in honour of her grandmother and Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.

Archie and Lilibet both share the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, a family name used for untitled descents who don’t use HRH (His or Her Royal Highness).

Prince Harry and Meghan arrived in The Hague on Friday 15 April to attend the Invictus Games, which he founded in 2014. The trip marked the couple’s first public appearance together in Europe since stepping down as senior royals and moving to California more than two years ago.

During the Games opening ceremony on Saturday evening, Harry shared that their two-year-old son has been inspired by his favourite TV cartoon, The Octonauts, and wants to be a pilot or an astronaut when he grows up.

“When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot – a helicopter pilot obviously,” he said. “Or Kwazii from Octonauts. If you’re laughing then you’ve seen that.”

“But what I remind him is that no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it’s your character that matters most, and nothing would make his mom and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today,” he said.