Prince Harry, who celebrates his milestone 40th birthday at the weekend, has opened up about his children Archie and Lilibet in a rare moment for the duke

Prince Harry has spoken ahead of his 40th birthday revealing his favourite ever gift – his children.

The Duke of Sussex will celebrate his milestone on Sunday, but ahead of his big day, he has told how he has found happiness in fatherhood. “The best gift I’ve ever been given is, without a doubt, my kids,” he said. “I enjoy watching them grow every single day, and I love being their dad.”

Harry is set to spend the day with his two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, his wife Meghan Markle and close friends. He will not be joined by his father, King Charles or brother, Prince William.

Harry is dad to children Archie and Lilibet ( 
Image:
Netflix)

Harry and Meghan with their child

Today, America’s People magazine – the chosen publication of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – reported that despite recent speculation Harry has no plans to return to royal duties. They described him as being “happy with his life in Montecito, California” and concentrating on his charitable endeavours.

Following his birthday celebrations, the Duke will visit New York City later this month to promote several projects close to his heart, including the organization behind Princess Diana’s Legacy Award.

He is also focused on his work with his Archewell Foundation, the non-profit he co-founded with Meghan, and a series of entertainment projects through their Netflix deal, including an upcoming documentary airing in December that’s centred on his passion for polo.

Harry comments about his milestone birthday come just days after he and Meghan were spotted on a rare outing together at a glitzy party with Hollywood A-listers. They were spotted at the opening of a new book store near their Montecito home, called Godmothers. The store has been opened by celebrated literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and cosmetics mogul Victoria Jackson, with Oprah Winfrey also lending her support.

At one of the opening parties over the weekend, Harry and Meghan looked co-ordinated in cream as they attended together to lend their support for the new venture, with Harry reportedly choosing his controversial memoir, Spare, when asked if he had a book recommendation.

The Sussexes on their recent trip to Colombia ( 
Image:
Archewell Foundation via Getty I)

And according to Town and Country, it was Harry himself who inspired the name of the new store last year when his memoir came out. At a launch in Beverley Hills for the book last year, Harry thanked both Jennifer, Victoria and Oprah, dubbing them his ‘fairy godmothers’ – with Oprah then insisting it should be the name of the new shop.

Harry and Meghan have had a long-standing bond with Oprahwith them first being introduced at the time of their wedding in 2018. Oprah was a guest at the couple’s wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor – and joined the other attendees while wearing a powder pink dress with matching hat.

The Times reported that Meghan had only met Oprah once before attending the wedding, which she later described as a “transformative event”. She said how she was “proud” of them for deciding not to reveal the names of their son Archie’s godparents and said she supported them “1,000 per cent” when they quit as working royals.

In early 2021, Harry and Meghan sat down with Oprah – and nobody could have predicted how explosive it would be. The highly anticipated interview saw the couple lift the lid on life behind Palace walls and make several shocking allegations about their family.

One of the most shocking lines from Harry and Meghan’s bombshell tell-all interview was a claim that Harry had “conversations” within the royal household about how dark son Archie’s skin might have been before he was born. During the interview, Meghan refused to say who the conversations had been with, saying it would be “very damaging to them”.

Elsewhere in the interview, Meghan opened up about her mental health struggles and admitted she had suicidal thoughts during her time in the royal family. It had been rumoured that the relationship between the Sussexes and Oprah had cooled in recent times. However, it appears all is well as they attended the bookstore launch together at the weekend.