Baby Archie ‘delighted’ Prince Charles by calling him ‘pa’ during a Zoom call with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the Duke’s birthday, a source has claimed.
The Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, recently bought a $14 million mansion in Santa Barbara where they are living with their sixteen-month-old son Archie, after stepping down as senior royals in March.
The family joined the Prince of Wales, 71, online to mark Prince Harry’s birthday last week, with Archie leaving the group in stitches with his cheeky behaviour.
An insider told The Sun Prince Charles was ‘delighted’ when the youngster called him ‘Pa’, adding: ‘Meghan baked a cake and Harry blew out candles. Archie made them laugh when he also blew them out.’
Baby Archie ‘delighted’ Prince Charles, 71, by calling him ‘pa’ on Zoom call with Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, on the Duke’s birthday, a source has claimed
The source added that Prince Harry also told his family ‘how much he missed them’ on the ‘pleasant’ call.
The affectionate term ‘pa’ is one that baby Archie may have picked up from Prince Harry, who also uses the word when speaking with his father.
It comes after a royal expert claimed Prince Harry and Prince William also spoke on the Duke’s birthday last week.
While rumours of a rift between the brothers has been rife throughout the summer, royal correspondent Katie Nicholl has claimed that the ‘distance’ between the two Dukes has been a ‘good thing for them’.
An insider said The Prince of Wales joined the Sussexes on the virtual call for Prince Harry’s 36th birthday last week, with the family left laughing when Archie blew out the candles on Meghan’s homemade cake
Katie told Entertainment Tonight,the brothers ‘speaking more than they did before’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California.
Katie said: ‘The brothers spoke on Harry’s birthday, It’s no secret that it’s been a rocky path between the two brothers.
‘But I actually think the distance has been a good thing for them. They are speaking more than they did before.’
She added that while it could be some time before the brothers will have a ‘cozy Christmas together’, things are ‘better than they were’ several months ago.
Meanwhile Katie explained the Duke and Duchess are ‘beginning to explore’ their new neighborhood of Montecito.
It comes after royal expert Katie Nicholl said Prince Harry and William are speaking ‘more than they did before’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to California
The former royals bought their $14.7 million mansion in a secluded and leafy, gated estate outside the affluent town in June and joined homeowners include Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Ariana Grande.
She said the couple have been spotted ‘venturing out’, with Prince Harry often picking up take-out food at a local burger chain.
It comes after the strain in relations between Prince William and Harry, who were once inseparable, was laid bare in the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ biography Finding Freedom.
According authors Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie, the rift between the two brothers began in 2016, when Harry and Meghan first started dating.
While rumours of a rift between the brothers have been rife, royal correspondent Katie Nicholl has claimed that the ‘distance’ between Harry and William has been a ‘good thing for them’. pictured, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018
It was reportedly was sparked by a conversation during which William urged his younger brother to slow the romance down and to ‘take some more time getting to know Meghan’.
Scobie has also claimed the brothers went two months without speaking following the Sussexes’ bombshell Megxit announcement.
Speaking last month, Scobie claimed Princes William and Harry cut communication for two months after Megxit and said their relationship ‘will take time to heal’.
Prince William and Kate Middleton led birthday tributes to Prince Harry last week, sharing a snap of them as a trio in happier times when they raced each other on a visit to London’s Olympic Park in February 2017
However, last week, Prince William and Kate Middleton appeared eager to lay to rest any reports of a family rift and shared an Instagram post dedicated to Harry early on his birthday.
The couple chose a light-hearted snap of Harry beating them both in a running race at London’s Olympic Stadium, accompanied by the caption: ‘Wishing a very happy birthday to Prince Harry today!’
But social media users quickly noticed that the Duchess of Sussex was left out of photos, as riled royal fans took to the comments section to say it was ‘shady’ of family members to ‘literally cut Meghan out of the picture’.