Meghan Markle and Prince Harry win $695 award from environmental charity for limiting family to 2 children

• Prince Harry told British Vogue in 2019 that he and Meghan Markle would have two children maximum.
• Harry said it was an environmental choice, which was recognized by charity Population Matters.
• The charity gave the couple an award for their "enlightened decision" to limit their family size.

An environmental charity recognized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their decision to have a maximum of two children.

On Saturday, the British charity Population Matters announced the couple would receive an award of $695 (£500) for their "enlightened decision" to limit their brood to 2-year-old Archie and newborn Lilibet Diana.

It's the first year that the charity, whose patrons include David Attenborough, gave out nine awards to recognize "Change Champions" in light of the UN's World Population Day, according to its website. The organization defines the awardees as people "promoting reproductive rights, defending the environment, and enlightening the public about the challenges we face and the solutions that are available."

A representative for Population Matters told Insider Harry and Markle's award "recognized an unusual set of circumstances," as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are "a couple with such a high public profile speaking about this."

Population Matters' website about its decision to recognize Harry and Markle says: "When probably the most famous couple in the world say they choose to stop at two, they help to popularise and normalise that choice."

The Population Matters representative told Insider: "We didn't, of course, give the Sussexes an award for having two children - which is far from unique - but for the context in which they've done it."

Population Matters said in a statement that smaller families reduce "our impact on the Earth" and having fewer kids "provides a better chance for all our children, their children and future generations to flourish on a healthy planet."

"We commend the duke and duchess for taking this enlightened decision, and for affirming that a smaller family is also a happy family," Population Matters' statement added.

In 2019, Harry told the primatologist Jane Goodall for an interview with British Vogue that the Sussexes would at most be a family of four, citing environmental concerns.

"I've always thought: This place is borrowed," he added in the interview. "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."

The same representative for Population Matters told Insider that the organization would be "disappointed but relaxed" if Markle and Harry decided to have a third child.

"We hope they won't, but people change their minds on all sorts of things," the representative said. "It would certainly be likely to generate more debate on the question of family size, which would be a very positive thing."

Representatives for the Sussexes declined to comment on this story.