Prince Harry Shares What Son Prince Archie Wants to Be When He Grows Up
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Prince Harry’s son Prince Archie wants to be just like his dad when he grows up! The Duke of Sussex recently revealed an adorable conversation he’s had with his 4-year-old son, who he shares with wife Meghan Markle, and it’s so achingly sweet.
In Prince Harry’s new Netflix series, Heart of Invictus, there is footage of a speech the royal made at the Invictus Games in the Hague in 2022, per Daily Mail. In it, he shares how he often talks to his son about his future.
“When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, some days it’s a pilot,” Prince Harry revealed. Of course, the Spare author himself was a pilot during his 10-year tenure in the British Army. He rose to the rank of Captain and on his second tour of Afghanistan, he spent four months as an Apache helicopter pilot.
During his Jan. 2023 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper, Prince Harry revealed that his military career “saved” him after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
He shared that being in the military “got me out of the spotlight [from the] U.K. press. I was able to focus on a purpose larger than myself, to be wearing the same uniform as everybody else, to feel normal for the first time in my life. And accomplish some of the biggest challenges that I ever had.”
“You know, I was training to become an Apache helicopter pilot. You don’t get a pass for being a prince,” he continued.
Cooper responded, “The Apache doesn’t give a crap about who you are.”
“No — there’s no prince autopilot button you can press and just whff — takes you away,” Prince Harry said with a laugh. He went on, “I was a really good candidate for the military. I was a young man in my 20s suffering from shock. But I was now in the front seat of an Apache shooting it, flying it, monitoring four radios simultaneously and being there to save and help anybody that was on the ground with a radio screaming, ‘We need support, we need air support.’ That was my calling. I felt healing from that weirdly.”
He added, “It felt like I was turning pain into a purpose. I didn’t have the awareness at the time that I was living my life in adrenaline, and that was the case from age 12, from the moment that I was told that my mom had died.”
Although Archie is still too young to understand the details of his dad’s history as a pilot, he’s probably seen photos of his dad flying a helicopter and thought he wants to do the same thing. How sweet is that?
During his speech featured in Heart of Invictus, Prince Harry went on to say what he tells his son about the future.
“[W]hat I remind him is no matter what you want to be when you grow up it’s your character that matters most,” he said, per Daily Mail. “And nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today – you.” Aww!
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also share daughter Princess Lilibet “Lili” Diana, 2.
Before you go, check out Prince Harry’s very best dad moments — so far!