Birth of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor: May 6, 2019

[Hallo girl]

There is so much knowledge on this thread I wonder if there are insiders posting .

[Countessmeout]

Of course its mainly all speculation and discussion, that is what we are here for. No one actually knows them. Some things are Known, are public.

Ah, but William (and Harry too both) wished to experience 'normal' life. When George was first born, I'm fairly certain there was no nanny help for a number of months. This means William and Kate likely reveled in their baby-driven sleepless nights (just as Meghan and Harry are doing now). Kate & William employed Maria Borrallo sometime later, not when George was still an infant. Obviously, the Cambridges were also helped out by Mama and Papa Middleton in those early months, and throughout the current growing years for young George, Charlotte and Louis.

As far as we know at the moment, Meghan and Harry do not have any staff helping them at Frogmore, certainly not any nanny help. It was just Doria, Meghan and Harry at Frogmore before Archie arrived. Then Doria spent a couple of weeks helping out with Archie before she returned to L.A. And of course, they have been welcoming visits from close friends and extended family since a few days after Archie's birth.

I would imagine the Sussexes might have cleaning help on occasion. But aside from that, there's just RPOs residing nearby in accommodations on the grounds. Meghan does her own cooking. Maybe she gets extra assistance in setting up for dinner parties, but she surely does all the cooking even then. Probably their professional wardrobe is managed, cleaned and cared for by assistants, but their casual wear they probably clean themselves in the laundry they surely have inside their home.

Maria was not Will and Kate's first help.

When George was first born, and William was still with the RAF, Kate was in Buckleberry with her mother for help. When less then 2 months later they moved to their own home, William's old nanny, Nanny Webb came in to help them out. She remained with them until Maria was hired.

They also had one (and eventually hired a second one) housekeeper. The duties included help with the pets and kids. They have never specifically had a 'cook', their housekeeper and assistant have helped with all from cooking to childcare to cleaning along the way.


I suspect a nanny will come in a few months time, likely a bit before Meghan starts easing back into events. I don't see her taking a very long maternity leave, at least not a full time one. She will want to make sure the baby is comfortable, and her and Harry as well, with the nanny watching the baby before she leaves him with the woman.

I would think they likely have a housekeeper, even if part time, helping around the home. With Archie young, she may be helping out with some meals while Meghan is busy feeding her son. Kate and William's ad for a housekeeper had them helping with everything from cooking and cleaning, to laundry, errands and even Lupo. I doubt Harry and Meghan are going to have a valet to take care of their wardrobe.


Wonder if the press will be better on the ball on the nanny. When it was learned (just before Australia) that the Cambridges hired a nanny to replace Nanny Webb, it was said they had heard it was a British nanny in her mid twenties. Oh they were well.... Maria is Spanish and in her forties.

[MaiaMia_53]

Omid Scobie knows direct insiders. And we know that Meghan's close friends were allowed to speak directly to the media. I don't see any mystery in any of that. Everyone can believe as they choose.

Of course, there's always help available to the Sussexes. I've never thought otherwise. Everyone apparently wishes to read only part of my posts and guffaw, which is fine. I do believe it's true that the Sussexes do not have staff at the current moment living in overnight, but surely staff stop by during the day. To what extent and amount they receive help with certain tasks, or don't receive help with other tasks, has not been officially confirmed. So to each their own perceptions.

Meanwhile,
It's not clear whether Meghan has begun gardening herself yet. Perhaps she has begun preparing, or she has directed planting and maintenance on the existing plots while she has been focused on tending to Archie's needs. We don't know all the details. But not everything that's written about is a lie. We also don't know exactly how many bedrooms are in the house now since the renovation. I think it's safe to say that the Sussexes prefer this roomy yet manageable home and lifestyle on the idyllic grounds of Windsor, to living in a 20+ room apartment at KP.

Sure Meghan will need more help with a larger home than she did at NottCott. But I have read that Meghan regularly does her own cooking, which does not mean she doesn't get any help with the cooking. I'm sure when her mother was there, her mother did most of the cooking. I'm sure they have laundry and cleaning help, and regular maintenance help. However, with the help they do have, none of the staff live-in, but some do live nearby on the grounds. At least for the moment, they are said to not have live-in help. That will surely change at some point, likely over the summer before Meghan returns to royal duties in the fall.

Meghan surely has assistants and her communication director and other royal aides she is in contact with, along with staying in touch with the people at her patronages. She's also said to write her own speeches and to help Harry with his. And she is surely playing a large role in drafting/ overseeing the Instagram posts on the @sussexroyal account.

I don't see why it's so hard to accept that Meghan is a mover and a shaker who enjoys staying busy. We can see that readily enough by how much she has accomplished in slightly over a year of marriage. Few people could have achieved as much, with such grace and determination. Continue to remain skeptical (those who will) of each and every plausible report originating from comments by Meghan's friends. What any of us think does not matter nor affect the person Meghan is, nor does any of our beliefs and perceptions affect what Meghan will continue to accomplish, and how she will continue to conduct her personal business and her family life.

One of Meghan's wise sayings is always apropos: No Bad Energy!

https://observer.com/2019/05/prince-...l-baby-archie/

http://carmonreport.com/world-news/h...gmore-cottage/
"Royal sources claim [the Sussexes] want to make the house perfect for family life after baby Archie['s birth] earlier this month..."

[Osipi]

Come to think of it, with Meghan on maternity leave and perhaps having a few friends over occasionally, its possible that they don't use all of the rooms available at Frogmore Cottage just yet. Meghan seems to be the type to me that would enjoy sitting at the kitchen table with her friends rather than hosting a formal dinner party. I can imagine the kitchen being the hub of the home where the family and friends and even the dogs are welcomed.

They may live in what seems to be a bigger place than Nott Cott but I wouldn't be surprised if they only used certain areas of the home. For now. I have a quite small cabin and even here with just the two of us, we have two rooms that are rarely used unless we have out of state visitors.

[ACO]

We have no idea if the Sussexes have a lot of staff right now. I would guess not. They literally just moved in and are mostly at home. Will that change? Absolutely. Right now I suspect they have the basic housekeeper who has more than one skill --- light cooking and pet care. That sounds pretty realistic for now. I would assume that a nanny will probably be joining the staff in the next month.

[MaiaMia_53]

Exactly. But it's been reported on more than one occasion that there is currently no live-in helper. I do not see Meghan turning the running of her household over to a housekeeper, in the British tradition. I would expect Meghan to take charge and control the activities of any household helpers. Surely she will delegate tasks as she sees fit.

The way Meghan managed her transatlantic courtship and whirlwind romance while still holding down a demanding job on a television series (requiring learning one's lines and working long hours, is no small feat). I do not think anyone truly gets how organized, savvy and remarkable Meghan actually is.
_____________________________________________

As usual, Osipi makes so much sense. Meghan is definitely a laid-back California girl. Her charming, down-to-earth presence, casual glamour and working-class 'normal' upbringing is all a part of the reasons why Harry fell for her so completely, hook, line and sinker!

I get the impression that one of the reasons why we keep hearing it expressed by Meghan's friends that she does the cooking and takes care of her dogs, her husband, and now her newborn son (and that there is presently no live-in staff) is because the Sussexes want to get it across that they are intent on living as normal lives as they possibly can. And they surely also want it to be known that marrying into royalty has not changed the person Meghan is. I recall that Meghan told her closest friends just before the wedding, to continue calling her Meghan.

I think the same is true of William/Kate and their brood to the degree that they want to give their children a low-key upbringing, despite the palace trappings and all the privileges. It's a difficult balance, particularly for the Cambridges, with the future roles they will assume. However, Kate's family too comes from humble beginnings despite her comfortable, upper-middle-class upbringing. Most importantly, Kate's family is close-knit, and as we know, Kate is used to doing a lot of her own shopping and hands-on mothering. She and William also spent six months living alone in a small cottage in Wales at the start of their marriage.

[Lilyflo]

Originally Posted by MaiaMia_53

I do not see Meghan turning the running of her household over to a housekeeper, in the British tradition. I would expect Meghan to take charge and control the activities of any household helpers. Surely she will delegate tasks as she sees fit.

What's the Californian tradition for running a house of that size for a very busy working mother whose work also involves travelling away from home (including overseas)?

[MARG]

I believe that by the time Meghan returns to work they will have the staff they believe they need to enable them to do their job and, should travel be involved, Archie's going too.

[jacqui24]

Originally Posted by Lilyflo

What's the Californian tradition for running a house of that size for a very busy working mother whose work also involves travelling away from home (including overseas)?

It varies. But it’s far less likely to have housekeeper live with them than BRF obviously. Nannies tend to. But there are a lot of cleaning services that just comes to clean and then leaves. They also have housekeepers that only works for one family, but doesn’t live with them.

The reporting on Frogmore is saying it’s not a 10 bedroom home contrary to earlier reports. So I don’t know if I can see Sussexes having anyone live there other than when they have a nanny. It doesn’t have that much room. With that being said, I think a lot of the comments regarding their home situation was from when they were based in NottCott and their rental in Cotwoulds.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they are getting help from family if they haven’t had time to hired their own help. But I would doubt it’s sustainable for Meghan and Harry to be cleaning their own house of that size with a newborn. Just maintenance alone takes a lot of work.

Charles sent his chef to help Frederick Windsor and his wife when she had her accident. Meghan and Harry wouldn’t be left without any support if they need it with a newborn.

[Ista]

Originally Posted by Lilyflo

What's the Californian tradition for running a house of that size for a very busy working mother whose work also involves travelling away from home (including overseas)?

For a house that size, and with that kind of income? A nanny, a housekeeper who may or may not live in, and yard service, with a possible maid service. Lots of those set-ups in wealthy California enclaves, and not so wealthy ones as well, where both parents have jobs that require travel.

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by Lilyflo

What's the Californian tradition for running a house of that size for a very busy working mother whose work also involves travelling away from home (including overseas)?

Speaking as a native Californian I can confidently state there are a few options:

1. Live in full time housekeeper and child care provider with a gardening service. Additional house cleaning staff comes on a scheduled time a few times a week.

2. Live in child care provider who also provides some light housekeeping work, but with a cleaning/gardening staff who are regularly scheduled to come in a few times a week.

3. All staff (child care, housekeeping, gardening) do not live on premises but come in on a daily or several days during the week.
4. All staff (child care, housekeeping, gardening) do not live on premises but come one-two times a week and the occasional extra day when required.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by TLLK

Speaking as a native Californian I can confidently state there are a few options:

1. Live in full time housekeeper and child care provider with a gardening service. Additional house cleaning staff comes on a scheduled time a few times a week.

2. Live in child care provider who also provides some light housekeeping work, but with a cleaning/gardening staff who are regularly scheduled to come in a few times a week.

3. All staff (child care, housekeeping, gardening) do not live on premises but come in on a daily or several days during the week.
4. All staff (child care, housekeeping, gardening) do not live on premises but come one-two times a week and the occasional extra day when required.

All very viable.

My sense is that H&M will probably end up with the following:

> A live-in nanny
> A live-in (or on the Windsor estate) housekeeper, who can help with cooking, childcare, cleaning, driving etc as appropriate
> Gardening on a part-time basis
> One or two drivers

[Countessmeout]

The reason I mentioned the Cambridge arrangement is I think its likely what we will see with the Susssexes. Not having a list of maids, valets and so on. But a housekeeper (or 2 if needed) and a nanny. Gardeners to help but gardeners aren't usually full time or live in staff so I leave them out. Kate and William's housekeeper doesn't live with them in their actual home, they have a staff apartment at Kensington. The same arrangement could likely be made with Windsor for a housekeeper for Meghan and Harry.

Yes the house originally had ten bedrooms, but it is said they removed a few to make bigger more modern rooms. But what people forget is that rooms for the staff are never counted in those numbers. The Cambridge apartment at Kensington is said to be six bedrooms. That doesn't include the rooms for their nanny and other staff. Same with room count for things like High Grove. So even if we were told Frogmore is 5-6 bedrooms or whatever, that wouldn't include any 'staff rooms'.

As for finding help so soon after the move......that is thinking they waited until they actually moved to start the hiring process. They likely started long before. And it wouldn't be the first time that a staff member had changed households, like from the queen. One of the Cambridges housekeepers worked for the queen before them.

[Ista]

And I think the important thing to remember is that no matter how many bedrooms there are at Frogmore Cottage, staff, with the possible exception of the nanny, would not be occupying them. There are other onsite accommodations close by, including the stables near the gates, at least some of which have been converted to housing. That came up early in the Frogmore Cottage thread, for those who are interested. Providing close but not in-the-house housing for staff has been SOP for royals for a very long time, so theoretically, Meghan and Harry could have the benefit of as large a staff as they need for efficiency and comfort without totally compromising privacy. And, we have no idea what their thoughts are about that, because they haven't told us.

[loonytick]

The impression I get is that the younger generation of royals have less interest in being surrounded constantly by staff. That doesn’t mean they don’t want to have their homes cared for by pros, but live-in help doesn’t appeal to them as much as does to, say, Charles. For William and Harry in particular that makes a lot of sense. Just look at how many former live-in staff of their parents have talked openly about the ins and outs of Charles and Diana’s marriage (and its dissolution). Paul Burrell alone would be enough to make them wary of having people in and around their private spaces at all hours, simply for the convenience of not having to clean up your own spill at 10pm or whatever. But as has been detailed here, there are all kinds of options for being pretty fully staffed without having the employees live on site or even providing housing for them at all. And given the size of their houses combined with the work schedules they keep, I don’t think it’s realistic to even imagine that there aren’t gardeners, housekeepers and/or cooks involved at least part of the time.

But I do think it’s quite likely that the modern version of a royal maternity leave involves taking advantage of the ability to be a hands-on parent in a way that they know won’t always be available to them in the future, to put off the hiring of a nanny until it’s closer to the time when both mom and dad have to be off at a Trooping or a plaque unveiling or whatnot.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by MaiaMia_53

I get the impression that one of the reasons why we keep hearing it expressed by Meghan's friends that she does the cooking and takes care of her dogs, her husband, and now her newborn son (and that there is presently no live-in staff) is because the Sussexes want to get it across that they are intent on living as normal lives as they possibly can. And they surely also want it to be known that marrying into royalty has not changed the person Meghan is. I recall that Meghan told her closest friends just before the wedding, to continue calling her Meghan.

Why would Meghan need to tell her closest friends to keep calling her Meghan? Did she really consider the option of asking them to call her your royal highness from now on? And are her other friends to call her YRH? As only the closest friends were asked to behave normal?

I would think that all of them would have noticed long before that they were allowed to call HRH prince Henry of Wales 'Harry'

[muriel]

Originally Posted by loonytick

The impression I get is that the younger generation of royals have less interest in being surrounded constantly by staff. That doesn’t mean they don’t want to have their homes cared for by pros, but live-in help doesn’t appeal to them as much as does to, say, Charles. For William and Harry in particular that makes a lot of sense. Just look at how many former live-in staff of their parents have talked openly about the ins and outs of Charles and Diana’s marriage (and its dissolution). Paul Burrell alone would be enough to make them wary of having people in and around their private spaces at all hours, simply for the convenience of not having to clean up your own spill at 10pm or whatever. But as has been detailed here, there are all kinds of options for being pretty fully staffed without having the employees live on site or even providing housing for them at all. And given the size of their houses combined with the work schedules they keep, I don’t think it’s realistic to even imagine that there aren’t gardeners, housekeepers and/or cooks involved at least part of the time.

It is probably a cultural thing and our friends from across the pond are probably not used to it, but larger households here often have live-in staff. Live-in may well mean living on the estate and not physically in the same building, but basically available most hours. I can't see either William or Harry being uncomfortable with the arrangement, this is what they have had all their lives.

As regards Burrell, the problem may partly have been a bored Diana probably sharing more with him than was probably necessary and, in time, him capitalising on it rather selfishly.

[ACO]

Harry might be comfortable but who it so say Meghan is? She might not be comfortable with it. Or she might not care. They will do what is right for them both in terms of their household help.

[Osipi]

One thing we can pretty much be assured of is that when it comes to domestic chores, Meghan isn't a stranger to them. She wasn't raised with a silver spoon in her mouth and has lived on her own and took care of things because she was the only one to do them. I can see Meghan appreciating help with errands and shopping and general around the house stuff but I don't see her as the Peg Bundy type to lounge and eat bon-bons and watch TV while staff does all the work either. They'll create a happy middle road suitable for everyone. One thing I'd bet my last gyro on is that whomever works for Meghan and Harry most likely will be working *with* Meghan and find her very companionable. I've never seen Meghan as the kind to "put on airs".

Archie is definitely going to need a nanny once both Harry and Meghan get back into the full swing of royal duties and charity work. For all we know, they may schedule their events much like Will and Kate did at first where one parent was always home with the children.

It'll all work out, I'm sure.

[BaiSoSo]

Originally Posted by Somebody

Why would Meghan need to tell her closest friends to keep calling her Meghan? Did she really consider the option of asking them to call her your royal highness from now on? And are her other friends to call her YRH? As only the closest friends were asked to behave normal?

I would think that all of them would have noticed long before that they were allowed to call HRH prince Henry of Wales 'Harry'

It depends on the context/situation, the friends may have been joking with each other and something along the lines of now you will be a princess/HRH and she replied with with I will always be Meg/Meghan (true to herself).