Ingrid Seward, a royal author and editor, reflects on how the emotional journey into fatherhood will be especially poignant for Harry
PRINCE Harry was always the most tactile little boy.
He seldom cried and was described by his father as being ‘the one with the gentle nature.’
Recent photographs of baby Meghan reveal that she too was a happy baby – and according to her uncle, Doria’s half-brother, "had a lovely sunny disposition".
Despite the differences in their upbringing – one from a Los Angeles suburb – one from Kensington Palace, both children had contented and secure early years.
This is something Harry and Meghan are determined to recreate for their new-born child.
Baby Sussex, born at 5.26am this morning, weighing 7lbs 3oz, is a longed-for addition to their happiness and although they have been married for less than a year like everything they do – especially Meghan, starting a family has been done at double speed.
Prince Harry has always worn his heart on his sleeve.
So much so that Princess Diana confided to me that he longed to be alone with her to such an extent he would feign illness at school so he could come home and snuggle next to his mother in front of the TV. He wanted her all to himself.
No surprise then when Harry and Meghan announced they wanted to have their baby away from the public and the press and would only share the news with the world when they had time to enjoy those first few precious hours themselves.
It will of course be a very emotional and poignant time for Harry.
Having a child of his own will make him long for his own mum in a way that he can hardly have thought possible.
Those who have been bereaved know it is those special moments like birthdays, weddings and babies that are the hardest when a loved one has died.
Harry will almost certainly see something of his mother in his child even if there are no similarities at all.
It will be because he wants to make Diana part of his joy, to keep her memory alive.
He has spoken out on many occasions about how he misses her every day so of course on the most special day of his life the feelings will be especially raw.
Meghan’s mum Doria will be there for him and although Harry will be grateful for her comforting presence it is not the same as having his own mum there.
He knows how wonderful Diana would have been as a grandparent and how she would have enjoyed spoiling his and Meghan’s baby and how good she would have been too.
Diana had a magical way with children, which appears in Harry when we see him with little people.
He knows exactly what to do with them and how to make them laugh and even how to stop them crying.
As a baby Harry was overshadowed by his elder brother William, who used to smother his little brother in kisses and then headbutt him when no one was looking.
Having been the centre of attention for so long and more than a little spoilt, William was not used to the shift of focus from him to baby Harry.
Nanny soon saw to it that he learnt to behave.
He had to, as although their lives at Kensington Palace were a lot less formal than a normal royal household, it was still a strictly organised way of life.
Whether or not Baby Sussex will have a similar upbringing remains to be seen.
Harry and Meghan appear to be the ideal of super, modern royal parents, but when the restrictions and regulations of royal life intervene, easy going methods of child rearing sometimes have to give way to order and tradition.
This is what Diana herself discovered all those years ago when Harry was born.
The couple posted a statement on April 11 saying they have "taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private".
It is not the only royal tradition Meghan and Harry broke for the birth of their first child.
The couple shunned the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London where the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her three children.
