All the Times Prince Harry Has Spoken About Wanting to Become a Dad

After years of addressing the subject, the Duke of Sussex is officially a father.

By Samantha Schnurr May 06, 2019 2:07 PMTags
Watch: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Road to Baby Timeline

After years of talking about it, Prince Harry is officially a dad. 

The 34-year-old Duke of Sussex and his royal wife, Meghan Markle, welcomed their first child into the world when the duchess gave birth to a baby boy on Monday morning. "This little thing is absolutely to die for, so I'm just over the moon," Harry told the press of his son, happiness radiating from his face. 

For both new parents, it was a special dream finally realized and one Harry has frequently publicly contemplated. 

As the long bachelor son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, the public often wondered if the royal would ever wed and start a family like his older brother Prince William, particularly every time he looked at ease with a youngster during a public engagement. 

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Day Photos

In a 2012 interview, Harry addressed the desire, telling Katie Couric, "I've longed for kids since I was very, very young. And so, I'm waiting to find the right person, someone who's willing to take on the job."

As many well know, that person to take on the job did not arrive until years later, though the subject continuously came up anyway. "I don't think you can force these things. It will happen when it's gonna happen," he told Sky News back in 2015 when asked if the birth of his niece Princess Charlotte made him think about settling down. "Of course, I would love to have kids right now, but there's a process that one has to go through."

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By the following year, Harry addressed the baby subject again, admitting to People in May 2016, "There have been moments through life, especially when we do a tour abroad, when I think, 'I'd love to have kids now'...And then there are other times when I bury my head in the sand going, 'All right, don't need kids!' There's no rush. I think...I tell you what: There's been times I've been put off having children."

He didn't put it off for much longer. The topic of youngsters came up once again in November 2017 as he sat beside his new fiancée for their first joint interview in honor of their newly announced engagement. "Of course, you know I think you know one step at a time, and hopefully we'll start a family in the near future," Prince Harry said at the time with Markle smiling beside him. 

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Five months after they tied the knot in the May wedding of the year, Kensington Palace confirmed the highly anticipated news that the couple was expecting and Prince Harry was going to become a father. As for how many the two are planning on having, that number remains up in the air, though we would not bet on five. 

Back in July 2018 during their trip to Dublin, a woman told Prince Harry that her husband has red hair and gave her five children and proceeded to ask when they were going to start a family. As the woman recalled, "He laughed and said, 'five children?—too many.'"