Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie shares habit with Charles despite rarely seeing him

When Prince Harry and Meghan decided to set up their home in California, they had to say goodbye to a lot.

The couple have been open about the reasons behind their move, with their desire for privacy and normality for their two children – Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet – being a major factor. Royal fans, therefore, only get a glimpse of the two adorable Sussex children every so often, but when they do they are always thrilled to see how the royal youngsters are growing up.

Whilst relations with some of the Royal Family have been strained over the last few years, which means that the time Harry has spent with his relatives has been pretty limited, his son Archie shares one major habit with Harry’s father – King Charles – and it’s something that is related to the monarch’s biggest passion.

For decades, the King has been a dedicated environmentalist, and long before it had entered mainstream consciousness was a campaigner against plastic pollution and the dangers of climate change. His love of the natural world has remained at the centre of his life for a long time and informs many of his habits – including one in particular that may seem to some people a little quirky.

Charles has previously revealed that he is a proponent of talking to the plants he is growing, to help them thrive. “I happily talk to plants and trees and listen to them,” Charles said back in 2010, when he was still Prince of Wales and he has also long held the habit of shaking a tree’s ‘hand’ – one of its branches – after he has successfully planted it.

It turns out that despite the distance between King Charles and his grandson Archie, the eldest child of Prince Harry and Meghan has also picked up this adorable habit. Meghan revealed in an interview with The Cut back in 2022 that Archie greets a pair of palm trees that grow in the centre of the Sussexes Montecito garden every time he walks past them.

The Duchess explained: “One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees…See how they’re connected at the bottom? He goes, ‘My love, it’s us.'” This led to Archie picking up his seriously cute habit, “Now every day when Archie goes by us, he says, ‘Hi, Momma. Hi, Papa.'” Meghan explained.