Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sparked the fury of the public and the press after they revealed their son Archie Harrison had been born nearly nine hours after the birth. Buckingham Palace traditionally issues a statement once a member of the Royal Family has gone into labour to later issue a second one confirming the gender and time of birth of the child. But ITV royal correspondent Chris Ship claimed the Duke of Sussex himself told the Palace to stand down on the immediate announcement to personally share the good news with the public.
Prince Harry told the Palace to hold off the announcement, according to Mr Ship (Image: GETTY)
Speaking to ITV's The Royal Rota, Mr Ship said: "Just do the breaking news. Breaking news the Duchess, in Palace words, ‘has safely been delivered of a son’ or whatever they say. Why not just do it that way round?
"My understanding is because Harry wanted to be the person to announce it, therefore, he didn’t want it to get out in an email.
"He wanted to do the announcement in front of you, he wanted to say, ‘I’ve had a son.’ That’s the way he wanted to do it."
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6 at 5.26am but Buckingham Palace only issued a statement at around 2pm on the day of his birth.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle baby Archie Harrison's birth certificate RELEASED – all the details
Press Association's Alan Jones, who conducted a brief interview with Meghan and Harry when they introduced their son to the world, admitted the decision had been "confusing" for both members of the public and members of the press waiting in Windsor for the announcement.
Mr Jones said: "They could have rung us individually and said, ‘stuff going to happen. Don’t worry, we’ll send out an email and explain everything.’
"It’s just confusing, saying she’s gone into labour when she’s had the labour."
Archie's birth certificate was released on Friday and confirmed speculation suggesting the Duchess of Sussex traveled to central London to deliver her first child. Commentators had previously suggested the former American actress had planned to have a home birth.
