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Meghan Markle has celebrated son Archie\u2019s seventh birthday with some candid snaps – including one of doting dad Prince Harry completely lapping up those sleepy snuggles with his new baby boy. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Duchess of Sussex shared the flashback from their 2019 newborn bubble on Instagram<\/a>. It included one sweet moment of Archie sleeping soundly on his dad\u2019s chest and another with his little sister, Lilibet, out exploring by the seaside. <\/p>\n \u201c7 years later \u2026 happy birthday to our sweet boy,\u201d the Duchess captioned the post. <\/p>\n Two very sweet moments for the birthday boy, and two obvious joys that come with a bit of freedom. <\/p>\n The memories offer a rare glimpse into the very normal lives the Duke and Duchess have been trying to encourage since their departure from senior royal duties. <\/p>\n Sadly, it also serves as a sombre reality of what Prince Harry might\u2019ve missed as a young boy growing up in the royal family – completely private moments with his own father King Charles. <\/p>\n In his memoir, Spare<\/i>, the Duke famously shared how he often thought his father struggled through parenthood – partly because of his high position in the royal family and partly because of his public divorce from his late mother, Princess Diana. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d always given an air of being not quite ready for parenthood – the responsibilities, the patience, the time. Even he, though a proud man, would\u2019ve admitted as much,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had trouble communicating, trouble listening, trouble being intimate face-to-face. On occasion, after a long multi-course dinner, I\u2019d walk upstairs and find a letter on my pillow,\u201d he added in the memoir. <\/p>\n \u201cThe letter would say how proud he was of me for something I\u2019d done or accomplished. I\u2019d smile, place it under my pillow, but also wonder why he hadn\u2019t said this moments ago, while seated directly across from me.\u201d<\/p>\n In contrast, Prince Harry appears to be very hands-on with his children – doing his best to be there for every single milestone his children achieve. And if we\u2019re lucky, sharing it with his loyal followers online. <\/p>\n In a joint video interview with Malala Yousafzai to mark the International Day of the Girl in 2020, he boasted about witnesses the most joyeous moments with Archie as a baby. <\/p>\n \u201cWe were both there for his first steps, his first run, his first fall, his first everything else,\u201d he gushed. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just fantastic because I think [in] so many ways we are fortunate to have this time to watch him grow.\u201d <\/p>\n