Princess Diana's DNA that Harry 'thanked' for helping Meghan Markle fall pregnant

Prince Harry believes that a lock of Princess Diana's hair was a good luck charm when he and Meghan Markle were trying for Archie

Princess Diana helped Meghan pregnant
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Harry revealed that he keeps a lock of Princess Diana's hair in a box inside his bedside table, opening up about how he feels it helped Meghan Markle fall pregnant with son Archie. 


Prince Harry's Spare memoir details part of his and Meghan Markle's journey to conceive Archie during their time living at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace

The Duke of Sussex, who stepped back from royal life in the UK to move to LA with Meghan Markle in 2020, revealed that he keeps a lock of the late Princess Diana's hair in his nightstand. 

Recalling the night that Meghan Markle took two pregnancy tests, Prince Harry wrote of how he woke up to see the tests beside him on the nightstand, instantly thinking of the box of Diana's hair within.

Princess Diana helped Meghan pregnant

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"I only kept a few things there, among them the blue box with my mother’s hair," the passage in Spare reads. 

Recounting the moment before he glanced at the results of the tests, Harry penned, "Right, I thought, good. Let’s see what Mummy can do with this situation."

Explaining that the tests showed that Meghan was pregnant with the baby that would go on to be named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, Harry continued, "I reached for the wands, peered into their little windows. Blue. Bright, bright blue. Both of them."

Princess Diana helped Meghan pregnant

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Confessing he thanked Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, after discovering that Meghan was expecting, Harry added, "Oh wow. Well. Well then. We hugged, kissed. I put the wands back on the nightstand.

"I thought: Thank you, Mummy."

Prince Harry, who now shares both Archie, three, and baby Lilibet Diana, one, with Meghan also revealed that his wife was encouraged to gain weight in order to conceive. 

"The toll was starting to be visible on Meg; she’d lost a great deal of weight in the last year," Harry explained, alluding to the pressures and stresses Meghan faced during her time in the Royal Family. 

"[The doctor] did confirm our suspicion that Meg’s weight loss might be a barrier to conceiving," he added.

Caitlin Elliott
News Editor

Caitlin is News Editor for woman&home, covering all things royal, celeb, fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Caitlin started on local papers and titles such as Cosmopolitan, Now, Reveal and Take a Break while studying for her Multimedia Journalism degree. She also worked in Fashion PR as a Press Assistant for Arcadia's Topshop before becoming a part of the Now team. Caitlin went on to add the likes of Woman, GoodtoKnow, WhatToWatch and woman&home to her writing repertoire before moving on to her current role.