The Duke of Sussex revealed one trip to Scotland played a major part in the creation of Prince Archie with his father giving him a rather odd idea

Prince Harry, left, said Meghan Markle and King Charles previously got on well (Image: Getty)

It seems scarcely believable now, but there was a time King Charles and Meghan Markle got on like a house on fire, at least according to Prince Harry. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spent much of the last four years launching a series of attacks on the Royal Family.

It has driven a wedge between Harry and the rest of his family and while both he and his father are keen to reconcile, it seems unlikely relations will improve any time soon. But this wasn’t always the case with Harry writing in his memoir Spare about how close the American actress became with his father.

And recounting one eventful holiday together in August 2018 – just a few months after he and Meghan married – he revealed Charles may have actually played a part in the Duchess becoming pregnant. He told how he and Meghan were staying at the Castle of Mey in Caithness with Charles and Queen Camilla.

At that point, both he and Meghan had already decided not to wait and have children, saying they “both wanted to start a family straightaway”. Harry said the bond between Charles and Meghan “grew stronger during that weekend,” with Charles especially delighted to discover Meghan shared a birthday with his “favourite person”, the late Queen Mother.

Harry recalled: “At the memory of Gan-Gan, and the link between her and my bride, he suddenly became buoyant, telling stories I’d never heard, essentially performing, showing off for Meg. One story in particular delighted us both, captured our imagination. It was about the selkies. The what, Pa?

“Scottish mermaids, he said. They took the form of seals and cruised along the shore outside the castle, within a stone’s throw of where we were sitting. So, when you see a seal, he advised, you never can tell… Sing to it. They often sing back…

The Castle of Mey in the far north of Scotland (Image: Getty)

“… Did I imagine – did Pa promise – that the selkies might also grant a wish?” Harry said he and Meghan were later on the beach near the castle when they spotted seals – or selkies – in the water.

The Prince said he “ran to the water’s edge, sang to them. Serenaded them. Arooo”. Meghan joined in and the seal eventually responded, prompting Harry to say his wife “really is magic” and “even the seals know it”.

By now buoyant, Harry stripped down and jumped in the water to swim after him. But the action horrified the castle chef who warned his actions could have had fatal consequences. Harry said: “This part of the Scottish coast was teeming with killer whales, the chef said, and singing to seals was like calling them to their blood-soaked deaths.”

At least three pods of orca are known to patrol the waters around Caithness. Thankfully both Harry and the seals survived and on their return from the Highlands to Nottingham Cottage, Meghan took two pregnancy tests which Harry kept overnight on his bedside table next to a box containing a cherished lock of his mother’s hair.

The next morning delivered the good news that Meghan was, in fact, pregnant. Harry said the pair “hugged, kissed” and he thought: “Thank you, selkies…thank you, Mummy.” Prince Archie was born on May 6, 2019, nine months after their trip to the Castle of Mey.