Tired but beaming, Meghan and Prince Harry showed the public their baby son's face for the first time on Wednesday, 8 May, and also revealed his name: Archie.
The royal couple said their son, seventh in line to the British throne, is named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor is a surname used by some members of the royal family.
The couple did not choose an aristocratic title for the baby, who is not a prince but could have been given a title with "Lord" before his first name.
The couple did not disclose why they had chosen the names — though the meaning of Harrison, “son of Harry,” could be a clue.
Many royal-watchers had expected a more traditional royal name, with bookmakers taking many bets on Alexander, Arthur and James.
Increasingly Popular Name in Britain
Archie is an increasingly popular name in Britain and was among top 20 most common boy's names in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Famous Archies include former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp and red-haired cartoon teenager Archie Andrews.
The announcement came hours after the proud parents posed for cameras, helping to satisfy a huge global appetite for images and details about their newborn son.
Standing in the vast, red-carpeted St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle, Meghan declared the baby was "a dream" and called motherhood "magic."
Harry cradled his son in his arms as the couple posed for the cameras — the first in a lifetime of photo calls for the two-day-old baby, who is seventh in line to the British throne.
The baby lay silently, swaddled in a white merino wool shawl and wearing a matching knitted cap. Both were made by English firm G.H. Hurt & Son, which has supplied three generations of royal babies with knitwear.
Meghan declared motherhood to be "magic."
"It's pretty amazing," said the 37-year-old American, formerly known as Meghan Markle. "I have the two best guys in the world, so I'm really happy."
She said the baby — born Monday at 5:26 a.m. weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces (3.26 kilograms) — had "just been a dream."
"He has the sweetest temperament. He's really calm," she said.
Harry quipped: "I wonder who he gets that from."
Asked who the baby took after, Harry said it was too soon to tell.
“Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks,” said the 34-year-old prince. “We’re basically monitoring how the changing process happens over this next month really. But his looks are changing every single day, so who knows.
"We're just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy," he added.
The couple left the photo call to introduce the baby to his great-grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
The infant is the eighth great-grandchild of 93-year-old Elizabeth, Britain’s longest reigning monarch.
Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, is staying with the couple at their Frogmore Cottage home near the queen's Windsor Castle residence.
The baby is the first Anglo-American member of the royal family, and is eligible for U.S. citizenship should his parents want it. He has African-American heritage though his biracial mother.
Family members have welcomed the new arrival with Prince William, Harry's older brother and a father of three, joking Tuesday that he will be glad "to welcome my own brother into the sleep deprivation society that is parenting!"
"Obviously thrilled, absolutely thrilled, and obviously looking forward to seeing them in the next few days," William told reporters.
Meghan, the former star of the TV show "Suits," married Harry, the ex-soldier younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, in May 2018. An audience of millions around the world watched the spectacular televised wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of London.
Harry is due to return to royal duties Thursday, attending an event in The Hague for the Invictus Games sports competition for injured service personnel and veterans. Harry is likely to make the jaunt to the Netherlands as a day trip so he can get back to his family in Windsor.
(Published in an association with AP)
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