Expect to see a bit less of Prince Harry in the weeks to come as the new father takes limited paternity leave following the recent birth of son Archie, his first child with wife Meghan Markle.
As Us Weekly reports, the Duke of Sussex, 34, will be scaling back his schedule to one engagement per week for the next month, which is said to be typical for new fathers in the royal family.
“The summer is going to be busy for him, but until mid-June, we won’t be seeing him more than once a week,” a source informs the magazine; Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press spokesman, previously confirmed to Us Weekly that Harry’s schedule would be reduced in the weeks after the birth.
While Harry was seen attending the Royal Windsor Horse show with the Queen and Prince Philip on Saturday, May 11, the source tells Us Weekly that wasn’t an official engagement, simply “him going out with his grandparents.”
On Tuesday, Harry began the day by meeting with young patients at the Oxford Children’s Hospital in London, where a former patient gifted him with an adorable teddy bear for baby Archie.
As Arbiter, 79, told the magazine in March, royal “paternity leave” is “a modern thing,” one more way in which the younger generation of royals are breaking with tradition.
“Prince William did it for his children and Harry’s going to do it for his, when his child is born,” he said. “I mean, the older generation didn’t do it. The older generation just got on with it. But it’s a new thing. People do it, William did it, and Harry is going to do it.”
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex is expected to resume her own schedule of royal engagements as soon as is feasible.
According to a source, Duchess Meghan “plans to return to work as soon as possible. She came into the royal family with so many goals and plans on forging ahead.”
The couple welcomed son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6.
