Don’t expect a lot of siblings for royal baby Archie!
Prince Harry, 34, revealed he wants “two (children), maximum,” during an interview in the September issue of British Vogue, which was guest edited by his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
He made the lighthearted comment about his ideal family size as he interviewed Jane Goodall, the legendary primatologist and environmental activist.
They talked about climate change and what adults can do to protect the planet for future generations, and Harry said he's even more aware of the issue now that he’s a dad.
“It does make it different,” he said. “I think, weirdly, because of the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve been fortunate enough to go to, I’ve always had a connection and a love for nature.
"I view it differently now, without question. But I’ve always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children…”
“Not too many!” Goodall interjected with a laugh.
“Two, maximum!” Harry assured her. “But I’ve always thought: this place is borrowed. And, surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation.”
Goodall, 85, also told Harry what studying chimpanzees has taught her about human nature.
“We have lots of instincts. From studying the chimps and seeing all the similarities it was obvious to me that we have inherited aggressive tendencies,” she said. “When you look around the world, they’re everywhere. They’re not learned. They’re just … there. You get angry. But with our brain we mostly control them.”
She added that children are not born with inherent bias or prejudice, but that they can be taught those views by people around them.
“Especially if you get little kids together, there’s no difference! They don’t notice, ‘My skin’s white, mine’s black,’ until somebody tells them,” she said.
Harry agreed and said that kids can also be taught unconscious biases.
“Despite the fact that if you go up to someone and say, ‘What you’ve just said, or the way that you’ve behaved, is racist’ – they’ll turn around and say, ‘I’m not a racist.’ ‘I’m not saying that you’re a racist, I’m just saying that your unconscious bias is proving that, because of the way that you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view – unconscious point of view – where naturally you will look at someone in a different way.’” he said. “And that is the point at which people start to have to understand.”
Harry’s full interview with Goodall will appear in the September issue of British Vogue.
The former Meghan Markle, the first guest editor for the magazine's influential September issue, also interviewed Michelle Obama for the magazine in addition to highlighting 15 inspiring women who are “forces for change."
The issue will hit newsstands Aug. 2.
