Harry wears his pride on his pocket
THE Duke of Sussex has spoken of how his three-day-old son Archie has “given him a new focus and goal”, teaching him the “miracle” of life after the challenges following the loss of his mother.
The Duke, who was in The Hague for the launch of the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games, told of his pleasure in knowing his baby had made “a lot of people happy”, saying he was still “very quiet” at just three days old.
Having left Archie at home with the Duchess for one day of work, he spoke of the joy his baby son has brought, and advised a father-to-be not to plan too much after his baby’s arrival.
During a bike ride around the Zuiderpark, the Duke had a candid conversation with former soldier Dennis van der Stroom, 31, speaking poignantly of the loss of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Archie Harrison Mountbattenwindsor was born on Monday morning, with the Duke appearing to abandon the idea of paternity leave with one engagement yesterday another already announced for Tuesday.
“Above all, he said he was just amazed by the miracles in the world, and how his child has made a lot of people happy,” said Mr van der Stroon.
“He also told me he’s really happy that his son is so far very quiet. But he told me not to make too many plans and that there’s no way you can plan for when the baby arrives.”
The Invictus athlete, who served in the Army from 2006 until 2011, described his conversation with the Duke as “amazing and emotional”.
“At a certain moment, we just got connected on this level,” he said. “We talked about how my wife, Mireille, is 20 weeks’ pregnant with our first child, a girl, and he told me how special it was that his son has just been born. Harry talked about how having a small child was his new focus and new goal.”
Mr van der Stroon was a Corporal First Class and served in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. In 2014 his mother died aged 58 and, in 2015, he was diagnosed with PTSD, triggering other mental health issues. “We talked about our shared experience of missing a mum,” he said. “He said missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother.”