Prince Harry Addresses Claim He Called Archie ‘My Little African Child’ to a Close Friend
The remark comes as a surprise, as the Sussexes had once slammed the royal family for expressing concerns about Archie's skin color before he was born.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had famously called out their royal relatives for their reported racist remarks toward their son, Prince Archie, during their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey. As such, recent claims of Harry having allegedly called his son 'my little African child' came as a huge surprise. Royal author Tina Brown claimed that the Prince had introduced his son to primatologist Jane Goodall with the racist remark. As the claim sent shockwaves, Harry has set the record straight, denying Brown's claims.
“The Duke of Sussex has never said anything remotely resembling what is being claimed," said Harry's spokesperson to PEOPLE. They further accused Brown of playing with words and maligning Goodall's reputation. "Tina Brown knows exactly what she’s doing by inventing these words and attributing them to a highly respected woman who is deceased and unable to correct the record," they stated. In her conversation on Katie Couric's podcast, Brown claimed she got to know about Harry's statement while meeting Goodall for lunch before her unfortunate passing in October 2025. However, after Harry's spokesperson slammed her remarks, she rectified her stance.
"On Katie Couric's podcast (Wednesday, December 17th), I recounted what Jane Goodall said to me in June of this year about Prince Harry," Brown shared. Accepting her mistake, she said, "She (Goodall) remembered affectionately Harry saying when Archie was born, 'I want you to come and meet my African Child.' She actually said, 'Africa child,' but I was speaking too quickly." Aside from the one slip, Brown vouched that she had accurately recounted her conversation with Goodall.
Brown, in her podcast conversation, had clarified that Harry in no way mocked her son with the 'African remark,' but structured it as a liberating sentence. He wanted to emphasize the freedom his son would now have living 'off-grid,' away from the royals and their racial bias. "She [Ms Goodall] was one of the only people outside the family who went to see Archie when he was born," detailed Brown.
Weighing further on Harry's intent, the editor added how the Prince struggled to express his feelings. "'It's going to be my child who essentially... you know... wild child, essentially...' They were going to have this time together, living a life off the grid as it were," said Harry to Goodall, as revealed by Brown.
Markle and Harry's battle against racist reporting is no secret. They had dubbed it as one of the primary reasons for leaving royal life, but the debate is still brewing. Now, settled across the Atlantic, the Sussexes are focusing on rebuilding their lives and empowering their kids. In response to Harry and Markle's previous racist accusation, Prince William reportedly lost his cool and claimed, “We're very much not a racist family.
