Just one week after Prince Harry and Dr. Jane Goodall shared a dance and “chimpanzee greeting” during an event for young conservationists, British Vogue published an enlightening conversation between the two as part of the September issue guest edited by Meghan Markle.
The prince and the primatologist discussed the environment, slowing down climate change, and not having too many children in the article, which is peppered with photos of the two smiling at each other.
“What we need to remind everybody is: These are things that are happening now,” Harry said of climate change and the finite resources that we have left on earth. “We are already living in it. We are the frog in the water and it’s already been brought to the boil. Which is terrifying.”
Goodall pointed out that climate change was indeed “terrifying,” perhaps even more so to Harry now that he and Meghan have brought a child into the world. Their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born in May.
When Harry spoke about how he had wanted to preserve nature for future generations and his own children, even before he became a father, Goodall joked that hopefully he didn’t want “too many” kids.
“Two, maximum!” the royal replied — meaning Archie might have a little sibling in the next few years. Goodall herself has one child, a son named Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick.
In 2017, when Harry and Meghan’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton joked about having more children, a U.S. children’s organization urged them not to have another baby. “Large families are not sustainable,” the group Having Kids wrote in an open letter to the couple.
The group said that royal couples serve as role models, and that Kate and Prince William could set an example when it comes to family planning.
In June, Goodall stopped by Frogmore Cottage at Windsor Castle and said she got to “cuddle” with little Archie and speak with Meghan.
According to The Sun’s royals reporter, Emily Andrews, the former “Suits” actress told Goodall, “You’ve been my idol since I was a child. I’ve hero worshipped you all my life.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take their love of nature overseas this fall when they embark on a trip to South Africa ― their first official trip as a trio, as little Archie will accompany them.
With files from Maija Kappler