This Is Exactly How Many Kids Prince Harry Wants with Meghan Markle and His Reason Why Is Very Unexpected

If you think Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want to have a castle full of kids, well, think again! The new royal father, who welcomed son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor earlier this year, revealed his ideal number of children in a rather unexpected situation: an interview with English anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall in the new issue of British Vogue guest edited by the Duchess.

“Two, maximum!” he told Goodall of how many little ones he’d like them to have. His answer takes the declining environmental state of the planet into account. “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.”

Royal lore has always supported the notion of an heir to the throne having two children. The practice is colloquially known as “an heir and a spare.”

Goodall later recalled the interview with Prince Harry to PEOPLE and said, “When you bring a child into the world, you have to worry about the future. If we don’t make change, we don’t have a future. It’s as simple as that.”

Archie was christened earlier this month in an intimate ceremony that both honored old traditions and set new ones.