Prince Harry and Meghan Markle didn’t move to the US alone; they brought their son, Prince Archie, with them when they first flew to Canada. In 2021, they moved into their multimillion-dollar mansion in Montecito, California, and welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet.
Even though Archie and Lilibet are still very young, they are often talked about in the news. Lilibet recently turned three, but no members of the Royal Family attended her birthday party. People are wondering what kind of relationship Archie and Lilibet will have with their UK-based cousins – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. There’s a rumor that King Charles wants to be more involved in the lives of Harry and Meghan’s children.
This fall, Archie is starting kindergarten, and Lilibet is getting ready for preschool. Harry and Meghan have been looking at schools for them, but one US journalist called them “frauds” because of this.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to the US to have a more private life, away from the paparazzi and the pressures of being part of the royal family. It’s said they knew just days after their wedding that they didn’t want to stay in the royal family for long.
When Archie was born in 2019, they had already started trying to become more private. They didn’t want to be used as “puppets” by the royal family for fans and the media around the world.
Harry & Meghan ‘tricked” reports when Archie was born
In her book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, royal expert Katie Nicholl said that Harry was “almost morbidly obsessed” with keeping Archie’s birth a secret, which is very different from the usual way royal babies are born.
Despite many fans and the public wanting to know about the baby, Harry and Meghan’s wish for privacy was ignored and seen as part of the “unwritten contract between the royals and the public.”
Rebecca English, the royal editor of the Daily Mail, mentioned that things were so tense behind the scenes that some officials were reduced to tears out of frustration and despair.
Usually, when a royal baby is born, the parents pose for photos on the hospital steps and answer a few questions before going back to their private life. But according to Katie Nicholl, Harry and Meghan wanted to handle Archie’s birth differently. Instead of openly facing the media, they tricked reporters and photographers.
Prince William, Prince Harry, and William’s children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—were all born at St Mary’s Hospital, where their first baby photos were taken. However, Meghan’s doctor worked at Portland Hospital, so it made sense for her to have Archie there instead.
Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet
An added bonus for Harry and Meghan was that the entrance at Portland Hospital made taking photos impossible due to safety concerns.
“Harry had always enjoyed outsmarting the media,” wrote Katie Nicholl in The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown. She added that Harry and Meghan were thrilled to have their son at Portland Hospital in London before the palace press office even confirmed Meghan was in labor.
Lilibet’s birth was different. She was born in June 2021 in California, where no paparazzi got close. However, it wasn’t long before Harry and Meghan brought their kids back into the public eye.
Two years after Lilibet’s birth, Harry and Meghan announced that they had given their children the titles of prince and princess. While they claim these titles are their children’s birthright, not everyone agreed it was a good idea. Royal expert Angela Levin believes it could have a negative impact on Archie and Lilibet’s futures.
In an article for Sky, Angela Levin said that Lilibet now has a heavy burden because of her parents’ decision.
“It will take a long time for little Lilibet to understand the burden her parents have put on her,” Levin said.
She added that by giving their daughter an official royal title, Harry and Meghan have now “attached her to the British Royal Family,” which they have criticized for many years.
“Why would you want your daughter to go through such trouble?” Levin asked, saying that Lilibet’s daily life will be more difficult because she has the title of princess.
King Charles ‘desperate’ to meet Archie & Lilibet
“Little girls love pretending to be princesses at parties, but if Lilibet is the only real princess in her class, it could cause jealousy that could be avoided,” the royal expert said.
Archie and Lilibet are growing up quickly. Archie turned 5 in May, and Lilibet turned 3 a little over a week ago. On June 5, Lilibet had a birthday party, but no members of her royal family attended. Princess Eugenie is the only royal who has visited Harry, Meghan, and their children in California.
Although King Charles’s relationship with Harry and Meghan is strained, he is reportedly “heartbroken” about not having a relationship with Archie and Lilibet. The King has only met Archie five times and Lilibet once.
Speaking with the Mirror, royal expert Ingrid Seward said Charles’s cancer diagnosis has made his relationship with Archie and Lilibet even more poignant, as he realizes he “won’t be around forever.”
“Family has always been important to the King. He remembers his own fragmented childhood because his parents were always busy with their duties. It is a great sadness to him that he doesn’t see more of Archie and Lilibet,” Seward explained.
“That’s why he will never cut ties with Harry. He doesn’t want to only see his son’s children on FaceTime. He wants to know them and be part of their lives while they are still young enough to learn from him. His cancer diagnosis has made this even more important to him because he knows he won’t be around forever.”
Meghan revealed real reason why Archie will never attend a UK school
Only time will tell what Harry and Meghan’s children will do when they grow up. They can choose any path they want, including working as royals. However, their parents likely plan for them to attend some of the best and most expensive schools in the world.
Their UK relatives have gone to famous schools like Gordonstoun in Scotland and Eton in England. But it’s said that Harry and Meghan wouldn’t let their son go to school in the UK.
In a 2022 article for The Cut, journalist Allison Davis shared a conversation she had with Meghan Markle. Meghan said she didn’t want her son Archie to attend school in the UK because of safety concerns.
Meghan explained that if Archie went to school in the UK, she would never be able to pick him up or drop him off without a crowd of photographers taking pictures. She told Allison, “Sorry, I have a problem with that. It doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with privacy. It means I’m a strong and good parent protecting my child.”
Archie and Lilibet have a lot of time before they start high school or college. For now, they will probably go to a school near their home in Montecito, California, where they live.
Harry and Meghan “inspecting” expensive private school for Archie & Lilibet
One journalist says that Harry and Meghan have started looking at schools in their area, but they’re getting a lot of criticism for their choices.
Richard Mineards from the Montecito Journal told the Mirror that Harry and Meghan checked out a local private school, which is very expensive.
“The couple was seen visiting the school campus last week, getting closer to making a decision,” Mineards said.
He added, “In our area, school fees range from $50,000 to $60,000 or more for older grades, and most students go on to four-year colleges.”
It’s assumed that Harry and Meghan can afford to send their children to private schools. However, not everyone is happy about Harry looking at such an expensive school.
US journalist Lee Cohen has criticized the royal couple, calling them “frauds.” In an interview with GB News, he said it’s “infuriating” that the Sussexes are planning to enroll their kids in an “outrageously expensive” school, especially since they often talk about equality.
Lee Cohen said, “It’s extremely frustrating to hear that Harry and Meghan, who claim to be champions of equality and social justice, are thinking about sending their children to an exclusive, very expensive school.”
Harry & Meghan branded “frauds”
Lee Cohen continued, “Their supposed commitment to equality and social justice is just a show. If they’re willing to send their kids to such an elite, extremely expensive school, they’re not really supporting equality. They’re paying tens of thousands of dollars a year for their children’s education, while many families can’t even afford basic needs.”
Cohen wrapped up by accusing Harry and Meghan of maintaining the “systems of privilege” they claim to fight against.
“Sending their kids to such a prestigious school just shows how fake their claims are. They’re upholding the very privilege they say they’re trying to challenge,” Cohen told GB News.
He lived on the margins and ate food from dumpsters – yet he managed to become an iconic actor and a father of 4 heirs
Life hasn’t been easy for Michael J. Fox of late.
The much-loved actor has been locked in a battle with Parkinson’s disease for many decades now, and as one can imagine, that’s not a fight that gets easier with time.
But did you know that Michael’s childhood was quite tough – and he faced significant challenges when trying to break through in Hollywood.
Overall, Michael J. Fox’s life has been a great success – even though his Parkinson’s Disease has taken its toll on him.
First of all, Michael’s upbringing was pretty unusual.
Born on June 9, 1961, in Edmonton, Canada, he grew up with a father who worked in the Canadian Armed Forces, and therefore, the family moved around a lot.
Michael’s mom was a payroll clerk, so she had a steady job – but Michael grew upp in a typical blue-collar home. Finally, the family settled in Burnaby, British Columbia, and Michael J. Fox found his passion for acting in junior high.
He joined the Drama division at school, and it was evident he was a talented actor. Per his website, his theater teacher encouraged him to audition for a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, Leo & Me, and Fox got the part.
He got several roles on television and, at the same time, worked at the local theater in Vancouver. Michael J. Fox had decided that acting was his call in life at that point. At the age of 17, he packed his bags to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.
“I knew that if I wanted to be someone, I couldn’t just sit on my parents’ porch and think, ‘Boy, if I was only born in the States and my parents had money and weren’t living paycheck to paycheck, I could do something with my life,’” he said.
Fox dropped out of high school, and his parents always supported his big dreams. His father even drove him all the way to Los Angeles. Speaking on LIVE with Kelly and Mark recently, Fox said he still doesn’t know how he convinced his father to do it.
“I told him that I wanted to go to Los Angeles, I knew I wanted to go to the United States, I knew I wanted to be an actor. My father, I know, thought I was a hippie. He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If you want to be a lumberjack, you might as well go to the forest.’ So he got me in the car and drove me to California,” Michael J. Fox recalled.
Making it big in Tinseltown, though, was easier said than done. Michael didn’t have the best starting point; he came from a working-class family and didn’t have much wealth to his name.
“I was living on the margins. I was 18 years old, with no money, no connections, literally dumpster diving for food,” he told Variety in 2023.
Fox fulfilled his dream of becoming an actor, and after only a few years, he got one of his most memorable roles. He was cast as Alex P. Keaton on the comedy series Family Ties, which became one of the biggest comedy series on television.
Not long afterward, he landed other parts, including his legendary role as Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
In 2022, he revealed his mother never supported him taking on the role in Back to the Future. And it seems like she had good reason not to support it either.
When he got the role, he was already working during the day on Family Ties. He revealed when he told his mother about the role in the movie, she advised against it. The actor recalled their exchange, “I was 23 years old, and I called her, she was in Canada, and I said, ‘They want me to do this Steven Spielberg movie, but I have to do it at night and I have to do Family Ties in the daytime.’ And she said, ‘You’ll be too tired.’”
But he went on to admit that his mother might have been right, he said, “I live for this kind of tired. It’ll be okay,” he had said to his mom, “To this day — well, till two weeks ago — my mother thought it was a really bad idea for me to do Back to the Future. She loved the movie, [but she was right], I got tired.”
On the set of Family Ties, he met Tracy Pollan. They were cast as each other’s love interests on the show. Sparks were only on-screen at the time, but a few years later, they’d reunite and fall in love.
Even so, Michael J. Fox already had a crush on Tracy while working on Family Ties.
“I developed a crush on her right away. When she left the show – the day she left the show, we were in the parking lot getting into our respective cars. She was getting into a rented Volkswagen, and I was getting into my Ferrari. And she called me over and said she wanted to play me a song. She played me a James Taylor song called That’s Why I’m Here, which was ostensibly about John Belushi. And one of the lines was, ‘John’s gone, found dead, died high. He’s brown bread, later said to have drowned in his bed. After the laughter, the wave of dread, it hits us like a ton of lead. That’s why we’re here,’” Fox recalled in an interview with NPR.
Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan tied the knot in 1988. They welcomed four children: Sam Michael Fox (born in 1989), twins Schuyler Frances and Aquinnah Kathleen (1995), and Esmé Annabelle (2001).
By the way, did you know that Michael Fox didn’t initially have the “J” in his name? Once in Hollywood, he attempted to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the labor union for film and television workers worldwide. However, when applying, he saw that there was another member named “Michael Fox.” Therefore, Fox added a middle initial to his name, choosing “J” as an homage to his favorite actor, Michael J. Pollard.
Michael J. Fox officially retired from acting in 2020 at 60 years old and having just starred as Louis Canning in CBS’s legal drama “The Good Fight”, a spin-off to “The Good Wife” where his character first appeared.
“I reached the point where I couldn’t rely on my ability to speak on any given day, which meant I couldn’t act comfortably at all anymore. So, last year I gave it up,” he said of his decision to retire, as per Good Morning America.
When Fox was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease he reportedly started drinking heavily. Thankfully, he stopped, sought help and was brave enough to disclose his condition in 1998. Since then he has been a strong advocate and inspiration to those battling with the disease.
Since 2000, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised more than $750 million to help find a cure for Parkinson’s.
Michael J. Fox’s life is a testament to the power of perseverance and resilience.
Despite hailing from a humble working-class background and facing numerous obstacles along the way, Fox rose to become an iconic figure in the entertainment industry. His story reminds us that with determination, hard work, and unwavering passion for our dreams, we can overcome any challenge.
So let’s celebrate Michael J. Fox not only for his remarkable talents but also for his inspiring journey that continues to inspire countless individuals worldwide.
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