Prince Harry, a new dad to son Archie, pledged to conservationist Jane Goodall that he and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will have two kids “maximum.”
The topic came up during a wide-ranging interview between Harry and Goodall that touched on everything from racism to the environment. The pair’s interview is published in the September issue of British Vogue, which Duchess Meghan guest-edited.
Harry agreed with Goodall that having a child makes you see what is happening to the environment around the world “terrifying,” according to the interview published online Tuesday.
“It does make it different,” Harry replied. “I think, weirdly, because of the people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve been fortunate enough to go to, I’ve always had a connection and a love for nature. I view it differently now, without question. But I’ve always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children…”
“Not too many!” Dr. Goodall said with a laugh.
“Two, maximum!” replied Prince Harry. “But I’ve always thought: this place is borrowed. And, surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation.”
Harry, who only has one sibling, his brother Prince William, teamed up with Goodall earlier this month to empower young kids to help save the planet.
The Duke of Sussex complimented Goodall on her work with kids and the pair went on to speak about racism and human behavior.
"What I love about your work is that you focus on the younger generation. [When] you start to peel away all the layers, all the taught behaviour, the learned behaviour, the experienced behaviour, you start to peel all that away and at the end of the day, we’re all humans," Harry said.
When Goodall noted that she has learned from her work with chimpanzees that humans have "inherited aggressive tendencies" but can mostly control them with their brains, Harry dove into a discussion on unconscious bias.
"It’s the same as an unconscious bias – something which so many people don’t understand, why they feel the way that they do," he said. "Despite the fact that if you go up to someone and say, 'What you’ve just said, or the way that you’ve behaved, is racist' – they’ll turn around and say, 'I’m not a racist.'"
"I’m not saying that you’re a racist, I’m just saying that your unconscious bias is proving that, because of the way that you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view – unconscious point of view – where naturally you will look at someone in a different way," Harry added. "And that is the point at which people start to have to understand."
When Harry was dating Meghan, who is biracial, Kensington Palace issued a rare statementlambasting the “abuse and harassment” of Meghan by sections of the press, making particular note of the “racial undertones” of some coverage.
In his conversation with Goodall, Harry spoke about the need for people to have "a wider perspective."
"But again, just as stigma is handed down from generation to generation, your perspective on the world and on life and on people is something that is taught to you," he said. "It’s learned from your family, learned from the older generation, or from advertising, from your environment. And, therefore, you have to be able to have a wider perspective."
