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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are ushering in their son Archie’s first birthday in traditional yet unconventional style amid the coronavirus pandemic.
For starters, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrated the occasion on Wednesday at their Los Angeles residence that they currently call home, as California’s stay-at-home orders are still in place. The parents reportedly are giving baby Archie a “smash cake” to enjoy, as well as video-chatting with close friends and family.
“They are celebrating as a family-focused on Archie and being together,” a source familiar with the couple told People magazine on Wednesday.
“They’ll have a smash cake and Zooms with family and friends. It’s been beautiful weather, so perhaps a family stroll with the dogs,” the insider added.
The proud parents also marked the milestone by posting a video of Archie in recognition of his birthday via Save The Children U.K. and the Save With Stories campaign in the U.S., which was created just last month by actresses Amy Adams and Jennifer Garner in the wake of the global COVID-19 outbreak.
The video, taken by Harry, 35, and shared to Instagram shows Markle, 38, as she holds Archie in her lap and reads him one of his favorite books, “Duck! Rabbit!” written by Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.
Archie turns the first page of the book before Markle encourages him on to the next. “Let’s go to the next page, look Arch!” Meghan says as Archie smiles, revealing his incoming pearly white teeth.
The couple, who announced on Jan. 8 they were stepping back as senior royals, are currently residing in the former American actress’ native Los Angeles.
Royal author Leslie Carroll told Fox News on Wednesday that she expects the young royal to have an “invaluable” experience growing up in the States.
“[The Duke and Duchess’] move to Meghan’s hometown of Los Angeles, with its thriving and vibrant multicultural environment, will offer Archie the chance in his most developmental years to experience a totally heterogeneous, multiracial population,” Carroll said.
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Royal historian and blogger Marlene Koenig said she can’t see Archie attending public school or, for that matter, even a boarding school.
“If Harry and Meghan remain here, I assume that Archie will go to a private school in the U.S, probably not boarding,” she said. “It will be a school that provides for his security, as well.”
In this image made available by SussexRoyal on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, joined by her mother Doria Ragland, show their new son to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England. Prince Harry and Meghan have named their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
((Chris Allerton/SussexRoyal via AP))
Carroll considers Los Angeles an ideal place for Archie’s upbringing in comparison to the U.K., as it will offer a more normal upbringing than Kensington Palace or even Frogmore Cottage, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
“Life in America will provide Archie with a much greater understanding of his mother’s culture and background, plus what the real world — where people who don’t live in castles with a retinue of servants and have thousands of acres of deer park as their backyards — live,” she explained.
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“Sure, it’s lovely if you can get it, but only a handful of people actually live that way.”
Archie is seventh in line for the British throne. Harry is the younger son of Prince Charles, next in line to the throne, and the late Princess Diana.
Fox News’ Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
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