I’m sure Harry will be the perfect father
He’sknown as the People’s Prince and, when you meet him, it’s not difficult to see why. I’ve met him a few times at sporting events and each time I’ve been impressed by how approachable and at ease he seems, especially with youngsters. It makes me think Harry will relish his upcoming parenthood, and I’m sure Meghan will too. There’s been a lot of doom and gloom in the media recently so it’s nice to hear happy news like this. When you find out you’re going to be having children, you begin to see the world through very different eyes – it’s like a mixture of delight and terror. You’re so happy you’re going to be having a baby, but there’s also the frightening realisation that you’re going to be responsible for looking after it 24/7. Harry and Meghan are in their mid-30s, and it can be quite daunting in its own way at that age. For most of your adult life you’ve probably just been focusing on your own life and career. It comes as a wee bit of a shock to realise you have to worry about someone else’s life now too. That’s how it was for me, anyway. I was thrilled to bits, until it dawned on me what I’d let myself in for and that life would never be the same again. I’m sure it’s the same for every couple. You have to stop putting yourself first, and be prepared to make sacrifices and compromises. That can be a bit of a rude awakening but it’s all about being prepared to adjust. Forewarned is forearmed, of course, and nowadays there’s so much information out there for parents-to-be. I can remember Andy downloading a fab app that allowed him to track their baby’s progress throughout the pregnancy. A big change from the few prenatal classes and a handful of handouts of my day. Although perhaps knowing precisely what’s to come takes a little bit of the fun out of a pregnancy. I quite enjoyed learning by trial and error. There was one unexpected effect of Meghan and Harry’s announcement of her pregnancy that made me laugh. When she appeared the next day, Meghan was wearing a sleeveless white dress by a largely unknown Australian designer called Karen Gee. People were obviously desperate for signs of a bump, and they must have liked Karen’s dress too, as her website crashed 20 minutes after the first pictures appeared. What a great piece of free advertising!