A photo of Diana and a secret lift: All the details from Meghan Markle's birth stories.

With the release of his memoir titled Spare, Prince Harry has shared dozens of intimate personal stories, including details of the births of his two children, Archie in 2019 and Lilibet in 2021.

Meghan was 10 days overdue with Archie and was medically induced at The Portland Hospital in London. Harry describes how a nondescript car collected the couple from their home at Frogmore Cottage, so as not to bring any unwanted media attention to their movements. 

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Once at the hospital, they were taken to their private room via a secret lift. Harry then ordered from Nando's, and had his bodyguards deliver the snacks to their room.

When he wasn't calming his pre-fatherhood jitters with Portuguese chicken, he was breathing in the nitrous oxide gas reserved for Meghan. He writes that because he used so much of it, midwives had to bring in a whole other bottle. He realised his error and apologised as Meghan laughed and rolled her eyes while bouncing on a giant purple ball to help bring on the labour. 

In between inhaling all the laughing gas and enjoying takeout food, Harry had time to create a calm vibe by lighting some electric candles (the same ones used in the proposal) and putting on 'soulful hymns'; tunes by German artist Deva Premal who turns Sanskrit mantras into music. 

Meghan also requested they put a framed photo of his mum, Princess Diana, on the bedside table.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with their son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. Image: Getty. 

When the contractions became more intense, Meghan climbed into the room's bath and also had an epidural for the pain. Just before Archie's arrival, Harry held Meghan's hand and encouraged her to push. In what he describes as a 'complicated birth', Harry writes that Archie's head became 'tangled' but once safely delivered and wrapped in a towel, the couple cried tears of joy.

During pregnancy, Meghan had worked with an Ayurvedic doctor who said that new babies absorb everything that is said to them in the first minute of life. Harry recounts how he and Meghan simply told Archie how much they loved him. He then watched the birthing team do all the usual checks and held off from messaging anyone.

After just two hours, Harry writes the pair returned home to Frogmore Cottage in the same nondescript car they arrived in. 

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In comparison, Harry describes Lilibet's birth in June 2021 in Montecito in California as much 'safer and calmer' as there was no worry about paparazzi hanging around and no Royal protocols to follow.

Fast food was once again a feature, but for Lilibet's birth, Harry and Meghan had time to fetch their own burgers, fries and fajitas from In-N-Out Burger before driving on to the hospital. 

Once they had settled into their room, the couple did their own rendition of the cute 'baby mama' belly rubbing dance made popular on TikTok. 

Harry told Meghan that he wanted his face to be the first thing baby Lilibet saw on her arrival, so once the birth was underway, he helped the medical team deliver her.

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Image: Netflix.

Harry writes that before he handed baby Lilibet over to Meghan for some skin-to-skin time, he was overcome with the emotion of meeting his second child and daughter for the very first time. 

While they were in that post-birth glow, Harry says Meghan said she had never been so in love with him than in that moment. She also revealed some of her thoughts from a journal she had been writing, which he understood to be a sort of renewal of their wedding vows. 

In a nod to his memoir title and a burden he has clearly carried throughout his life, Meghan wrote that Harry was not a 'spare' and that by helping to deliver Lilibet and telling her he would keep her safe, it had been 'everything'. 

Feature Image: Getty.