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Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will be embarking on his first official royal tour at the tender age of four months.
The young royal has only been seen in public a few times but will be flying thousands of miles with his parents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to South Africa to be part of the experience.
There is a long history of royals taking their young children with them on overseas trips, which are working visits on behalf of the British Government but still offer opportunities to relax and enjoy the new surroundings.
Harry’s parents the Prince of Princess of Wales travelled with his older brother the Duke of Cambridge, when he was a nine-month-old Prince William, to Australia and New Zealand in 1983.
Prince George was also only nine months when he joined his parents William and Kate for their first joint trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2014.
Archie has not been included in Harry and Meghan’s official schedule for South Africa, although the couple hope to publicly introduce him to Africa at some point.
Their baby was born on May 6 at 5.26am, weighing 7lb 3oz, at London’s exclusive Portland hospital, and soon afterwards Harry said he already could not imagine life without his son.
The royal baby’s first, and so far only, official public event was staged a few days after his birth when his proud parents posed with him in Windsor Castle before introducing him to the Queen.
Archie’s christening was a private family event exactly two months after the birth, with the official pictures showing his immediate family surrounding him.
He was last seen in the arms of Meghan at Billingbear Polo Club in Wokingham in July, as Harry and William played in a match, a few days after his baptism.
From Monday, the 18-week-old will experience a new continent as he begins his life as a travelling royal.
