Just weeks after welcoming their first child Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in May 2019, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were forced to fire an “irresponsible” night nurse following an “incident,” according to royal correspondent Omid Scobie. Although the alleged firing was first reported on in August 2020 following the release of Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s biography Finding Freedom, new details about the incident have emerged in Scobie’s interview for the UK’s Channel 4 documentary A Very Royal Baby: From Cradle to Crown.
According to Scobie, and as reported by Marie Claire, as the royal couple settled down into their new life as a family of three at their former Frogmore Cottage residence, they “wanted some help to establish a sleep pattern.” As such, they “hired a night nanny,” though an alleged “incident” eventually led to the couple foregoing a night nanny altogether. While Scobie said he “can’t go into someone else’s employment details for legal reasons,” he did reveal that “it was an incident on one of the first nights that put the couple off from having a night nurse.”
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Scobie did not reveal any further details regarding the reported incident, and it remains unclear exactly what occurred. In Finding Freedom, Scoobie and Durand wrote that the incident occurred “in the middle of her second night of work.” Although the couple had initially decided to “forgo” a full-time nanny to be more hands-on with their parenting, after Markle’s mother Doria Ragland left the U.K. to return to California, the couple decided to hire a night nurse. They were “forced to let go” of that nurse during the second night of her shift “for being unprofessional,” according to the book.
Following the incident, the couple “went on to hire a second night nurse, who did a fine job.” However, due to the incident with their first night nurse, the new parents did not find “themselves comfortable sleeping through the night without going to check on Archie regularly.” According to the book, “after a few weeks, they decided to take on nights themselves and went without a night nurse entirely” and instead “hired a nanny to work weekdays.”
The new details regarding the incident emerged as the couple currently awaits the arrival of their second child. The couple announced February that Markle is pregnant, later revealing that they are expecting a baby girl set to arrive this summer. Now living in California, where Harry has not one but two jobs, it is unclear if the couple plans to bring on additional help to help care for their children.
