How Prince Harry Plans to Celebrate His 40th Birthday With “Fresh Perspective on Life”

Prince Harry is entering a new decade with a new outlook.

The Duke of Sussex, who turns 40 on Sept. 15, shared some insight into his mindset as he approaches the milestone birthday.

"I was anxious about 30, I’m excited about 40," Harry told BBC in a statement on Sept. 13. "Whatever the age, my mission is to continue showing up and doing good in the world."

The British royal, who shares Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, with wife Meghan Markle, also revealed that he plans on spending his actual birthday with his family before going on a celebratory trip with some friends.

And the royal couldn't help but gush about his children while reflecting on his upcoming birthday.

"Becoming a father of two incredibly kind and funny kids has given me a fresh perspective on life, as well as sharpening my focus in all my work," Harry said. "Being a dad is one of life’s greatest joys and has only made me more driven and more committed to making this world a better place."

The Invictus Games founder added that he's ready for the next 10 years of his life, saying, "bring on the next decade."

Harry's comments about being a father come a little over a month after he and Meghan opened up about their approach to parenthood in their first joint interview in three years.

"Our kids are young," Meghan said in the Aug. 4 CBS Sunday Morning sitdown. "They're amazing. But all you want to do as parents is protect them."

She added, "As we can see what's happening in the online space, we know that there's a lot of work to be done there and we're just happy to be a part of change for good."

Harry went on to share some advice, as well as a harrowing warning, to all parents navigating how to monitor their child's online activity.

"We've got to the point where almost every parent needs to be a first responder," he explained. "And even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this."

More recently, it was Meghan who shared insight into how she aims to inspire their daughter.

"I find inspiration in the strong women around me, of course my mother being one of them," she said at the Afro Women and Power event on Aug. 18. "So much of how I approach things is less about the fight, and more about, ‘how do we show up in a space and wash things over with love and kindness and generosity?"

"Those are the elements that inspire me," she added. "I know how it feels when you don’t utilize your voice when you need to be heard or have something to say. I encourage our daughter to do so—who at 3 has absolutely found her voice, and we are so proud of that."

Keep reading for more of Harry and Meghan's comments about parenthood.

"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."

Years ago, Meghan even made a purchase with her future daughter in mind. "I've always coveted the Cartier French Tank watch. When I found out Suits had been picked up for our third season—which, at the time, felt like such a milestone—I totally splurged and bought the two-tone version," she recalled to Hello! in 2015. "I had it engraved on the back, 'To M.M. From M.M.' and I plan to give it to my daughter one day."

Fatherhood is a subject that—along with marriage—has long trailed Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana's younger son. "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 tell you what: There's been times I've been put off having children," he admitted to People back in May 2016, shortly before meeting his future wife. 

In 2017, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed their engagement and sat for their first joint interview. Naturally, the topic of future kids came up. "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 Meghan smiling beside him.

"It's magic," Meghan said about becoming a mum following Archie's birth. "It's pretty amazing and, I mean, I have the two best guys in the world, so I'm really happy."

Following Archie's birth in May 2019, Harry gushed, "It's been the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine. How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension but we're both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there. It's been amazing so we just wanted to share this with everybody."

Harry reflected on the lessons he's learned since becoming a parent during a speech at the National Youth Mentoring Summit in 2019. He shared, "I'm struck by a few things today, most of which is the power of the invisible role model. The person who may be sitting here today that doesn't realize that someone looks up to them that—for that person—you inspire them to be kinder, better, greater, more successful, more impactful. Perhaps it's the newfound clarity I have as a father knowing that my son will always be watching what I do, mimicking my behavior, one day maybe even following in my footsteps."

"Our little man is our No. 1 priority but then our work after that is the second priority," Prince Harry shared during a speaking engagement in 2020, "and we're just doing everything we can to try and play our part in trying to make the world a better place."

Harry and Meghan found a silver lining amid the coronavirus pandemic through baby Archie. "In so many ways we are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow, and in the absence of COVID, we would be traveling and working more externally," Meghan shared in October 2020. "We'd miss a lot of those moments. So I think it's been a lot of really good family time."

Harry added, "We were both there for Archie's first steps, his first run, his first fall, everything."

In May 2021, Meghan made a rare TV appearance during Global Citizen's VAX Live: The Concert to Reunite the World special. The former actress opened up about her pregnancy and shared her excitement about raising a daughter. "My husband and I are thrilled to soon be welcoming a daughter. It's a feeling of joy we share with millions of other families around the world," she said at the time. "When we think of her, we think of all the young women and girls around the globe who must be given the ability and the support to lead us forward."

She added, "Their future leadership depends on the decisions we make and the actions we take now to set them up, and set all of us up, for a successful, equitable and compassionate tomorrow."

Meghan makes a brief cameo in her husband's Apple TV+ series with Oprah, The Me You Can't See. During her appearance, the California native seemingly pays tribute to her growing family with a shirt that reads, "Raising the Future."

The couple welcomed their baby girl. In a statement shared on their Archewell Foundation page, they gushed, "On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family."

On June 8, 2021, Meghan will release her first children's book, The Bench, which is a celebration of fatherhood from a mother's perspective. Of her new project, she said in a press release in May, "The Bench started as a poem I wrote for my husband on Father's Day, the month after Archie was born. That poem became this story."

In an October 2021 letter to then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer explaining her support for mandatory paid parental leave in the U.S., Meghan wrote of being "overjoyed" but "overwhelmed" when her daughter was born when the pandemic was still preventing business as usual in hospitals, schools, etc.

"Like fewer parents, we weren't confronted with the harsh reality of either spending those first few critical months with our baby or going back to work," she wrote. "We knew we could take her home, and in that vital (and sacred) stage, devote any and everything to our kids and to our family. We knew that by doing so we wouldn't have to make impossible choices about childcare, work, and medical care that so many have to make every single day."

Meghan continued, "No family should be faced with these decisions. No family should have to choose between earning a living and having the freedom to take care of their child (or a loved one, or themselves, as we would see with a comprehensive paid leave plan)."

On TODAY in April 2022, Harry shared that separating parenting from his work-at-home routine was pretty much a nonstarter.

"Archie spends more time interrupting our Zoom calls than anybody else," he said. "He also gets them often as well, so that's a nice thing."

Harry noted that he could already see his own sly sense of humor in his son. "I always try and keep that," he added. "I think that the cheekiness is something that keeps you alive."

Meghan admitted she was concerned for her—and everybody else's—kids in the age of social media.

"Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire life—outside, of course, being a wife to this one," she said, gesturing to Harry, during an October 2023 talk at the Archewell Foundation Parents' Summit: Mental Wellness in the Digital Age, part of Project Healthy Minds' World Mental Health Day

"But I will say," she added, "I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isn't in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened at how it's continuing to change and this will be in front of us."

Noting that "the days are long but the years are short" as a parent, Meghan continued, "Everyone is affected by the online world and social media. We all just want to feel safe."

"Our daughter, Lili, she's much, much tinier than you guys," Meghan told a class of kindergarteners during a May 2024 visit to Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria. "She's about to turn 3. And a few weeks ago, she looked at me and she would just see the reflection in my eyes. And she [goes], 'Mama, I see me in you.'"

"Now, she was talking really literally," Meghan added. "But I hung onto those words in a very different way. And I thought, 'Yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you.'" 

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