Prince Archie’s Former Nanny Discusses Her Unexpected First Meeting With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Following the birth of Prince Archie on May 6, 2019, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry enlisted the help of a nanny to care for their son. At the time, the Sussexes were busy working royals, and they presumably wanted to find a consummate professional to look after their first child.

Meghan and Harry hired Lorren Khumalo, a pediatric nurse and consultant, who was seemingly a great fit for the family. During an interview with “The Breakfast Club with Zenzele Ndebele,” Khumalo got candid about her very first meeting with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the trepidation she experienced.

“I thought to myself, ‘I wonder how their nannies look. Do they wear heels?’” Khumalo said (via the Express). She continued, “Prince William has got a Norland Nanny, so they’ve got a brown uniform that for my skin color and the way it looks in khaki brown, I knew it wouldn’t even go. It would just not work.”

Khumalo decided to play it safe and wore “something dark and nice kitten heels.” She explained her thought process, saying, “I’ll look presentable for a royal so I need to do my best. But I didn’t use any make-up. I said if they take me, they take me as I am.”
The pediatric nurse also explained that working with the Royal Family was outside of her comfort zone. “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, I’m not blue blood, I will go as I am and trust me with my God, I’ll get this job,” Khumalo said.

When she met Prince Harry, he was nothing like she imagined. Having pictured a “princely somebody, in those very expensive German, Swiss suits or something,” Khumalo was understandably surprised to find the Duke of Sussex wearing jeans and a T-shirt, walking around barefoot.

The nurse also wasn’t totally sure of the protocol when it came to meeting members of the Royal Family. She explained, “And I kept asking his PPO, so his protection officer, ‘Do I curtsy, do I have to?’ And he just looked at me and laughed and he said, ‘You’ll see, Prince Harry is amazing.’”

The Sussexes immediately put Khumalo at ease. “When I got there, the way he opened his arms, ‘Hello Lorren!’ and gave me a hug,” she explained. “[I thought], ‘Wow, what a gentleman, what a gem.’ Oh my goodness, I couldn’t believe it.”

Unsurprisingly, Khumalo was a little starstruck by the Duchess of Sussex. “And when I walked in and saw Meghan I thought, ‘My God, what a beautiful woman,’” the former nanny explained. “I just felt so comfortable, it wasn’t as formal as I expected it to be. It was just a normal home.”