What does the future hold for Archie Mountbatten-Windsor?

The seventh in line to the British throne may well grow up to have a Canadian accent

Archie Mountbatten-Windsor
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Archie in Cape Town in September
(Image credit: Toby Melville/Pool/Getty Images)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to begin a new life in North America along with their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

And that means the eight-month-old is likely to have a very different upbringing to those of his cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. So how might such a childhood look?

As The Telegraph notes, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made it clear from the off that they wanted to bring up their son as a “private citizen”. As such, he is simply “Master” Archie, rather than a prince.

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Majesty magazine’s managing editor Joe Little believes this was an early indication that the couple might step back from their roles as senior royals. “The fact Archie isn’t Earl of Dumbarton or styled HRH makes me wonder whether this wasn’t already part of a wider masterplan,” Little says.

If the untitled young royal is to be educated in Canada, “it would break a long tradition of British Royals at British schools”, says The Telegraph, which notes that Prince Harry is among the many members of the family who attended Eton.

The newspaper suggests that instead, Archie might find himself “rubbing shoulders with well-heeled expats at international school”.

According to the Daily Mail, Canada offers 91 independent schools, including Lakefield College School “which bills itself as ‘the best day and boarding’ establishment in the country, and is steeped in royal history”.

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Although the Sussexes plan to divide their time between Canada and the UK, education consultant Edward Williams thinks Archie will only be enrolled at school in one of the two countries.

“Students of any age crave consistency, structure and discipline,” Williams told the Mail. “It’s necessary not just for their academic growth but their social and emotional health.”

And if his parents decide that school should be in Canada, the seventh in line for the throne is likely to speak differently to the members of his wider family, says University of British Columbia sociolinguist Stefan Dollinger.

“He’s going to talk to other Canadian kids, so he’s most likely to acquire a standard Canadian accent,” Dollinger told CBC Radio.

In the meantime, the couple will probably continue to shield their baby from the public spotlight, predicts royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams. “They will undoubtedly regulate all Archie’s appearances as they see fit,” he told the Daily Express.

The Sunday Times reports that a “source who knows the Queen” says the monarch will be “very sad to have barely seen Archie, and that he will miss out on growing up with his cousins and wider family”.

But at least there is one aspect of living in Canada that Archie is already enjoying, according to The Sun. Prince Harry revealed this week that his son, who has been in North America since before Christmas, “saw snow for the first time the other day and thought it was bloody brilliant”.

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