Prince Harry is a father to a healthy boy. His statement to the press was ;
** “I’m very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a baby boy this morning, a very healthy baby boy.”**
I can see the grammar point. “I” before the verb. “Me” after the verb. “Myself” after the verb when there is an “I” before it.
Still, it sounds odd to me. I presume the Queen keeps the family on their toes regarding the Queen’s English.
What are your thoughts?
It certainly does not conform to modern usage. I would have said ‘Meghan and I’, but I expect he was a little excited…
At least he didn’t say "Meghan and me…
That’s not the rule. The rule is to use “I” as the subject of a verb, and “me” as an object. “Myself” is reflexive, and is used when the person speaking is both the subject and the object of the verb, or for emphasis. “I had to restrain myself,” or “I myself did it.”
In the sentence in question, Meghan and Harry are the subject of the verb “had,” so it should be “I.” “Myself” there is just grammatically wrong.
Although it comes after the verb “announce,” it is not the object of the verb (and if it were, it should be “Meghan and me.”). It is part of a separate prepositional clause with its own subject(s) and object (“a baby”).
I literally (yes, I do know how to properly use that word)just read about the birth and Harry’s use of “myself” struck me immediately. Far be it for me to tell a Prince how to speak but this is a real pet peeve of mine. Heck, maybe it’s even technically correct but it really rankles.
Irregradless (heh!), many blessings to the new parents and baby.
I agree that ‘I’ is better than ‘myself’.
However I think that Harry is being shrewd.
This has been a huge news story on both sides of the pond.
Now the discussion can centre on grammar, rather than pestering Meghan!
It’s not correct in any way.
Maybe he started out to say “Meghan and My Royal Highness” but just caught himself in time. 
Right. Paul may be thinking of this:
I think this is an example of where someone isn’t sure whether to use “I” or “me,” or thinks that neither one sounds quite right, so they use “myself” instead. “Meghan and [del]me[/del]… uh, Meghan and [del]I[/del]… uh, Meghan and myself had a baby…”
Grammar-grouching on ‘myself’ misuse
This is how I interpret it, as well, as a way of getting out of deciding whether the subjective “I” or objective “me” is correct (and I usually hear/see the “myself” usage when somebody is trying to avoid “me” rather than “I.” I find a lot of people hypercorrect “me” to “I” in phrases, and those that don’t use “myself.” Even listening to NPR, it’s out there all the time.) I feel like I’ve been hearing this mostly in the past 20 years or so, especially in business-type speak. (Like, “Jan will be traveling with myself to a conference in Vegas next week, so please report to Bob.”) That said, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised it there’s a long history of its usage that way (though I’d be curious to see it, if that is the case.)
I sometimes try to justify it by thinking of it as an emphatic “me” (which I know is historically “I myself” rather than the bare reflexive) or parsing it as “my self” instead of “myself.” But I personally do not use that usage, and have always been taught that it was incorrect.
I would be curious to learn whether it’s a relatively new usage and a sign of a shift in English usage or whether it has been pretty common in English historically.
It’s not ‘I before the verb and me after the verb.’ It’s ‘“I” if the subject of the sentence or phrase, “me” if the object.’ English is often constructed so that the subject comes before the verb and the object afterwards, but not always.
In your example, I’d think “I” is correct; but I also wouldn’t bug the excited father about it.
– Whoops. Refresh the thread before posting, thorny! Colibri already said that.
I am not as troubled by the grammar as by the prince’s over-emphasis on his participation in the actual having of the baby.
You just can’t win. If he’d said “Meghan had a baby boy this morning,” people would say it sounded like it wasn’t his kid.
Mentioning that it was in fact also his baby is “over-emphasis”?:dubious: The message itself seems perfectly straightforward to me.
How exactly would you have worded it?
Nah, that would be a legitimate reaction if he’d said “Meghan and myself gave birth to a baby.” What he said was fine in terms of representing his participation.
“Myself” is usually used for emphasis.
“Don’t worry, the job is done. I saw to it myself.”
Yes, that is unobjectionable. That is a standard use of “myself.” That is not the same usage as in the OP.
I agree the OP’s example is incorrect. It’s a common enough sort of error. I am sure I’ve made it myself.
The usage might be non-standard or even stilted, but is hardly ungrammatical. ‘Myself’ is a valid substitute for the 1st person, though some usages will ring truer than others.
Does Harry’s grandmother still use ‘We’ as her 1st person singular, as her ancestors did? (Thai has a system of special pronouns reserved for speech by or to royalty.) Perhaps the use of ‘Myself’ is a royal fetish (though it’s acceptable grammar in any case).
Going back to the original question: I consider it to be common in a certain formal register. People who are particularly posh would use “myself” where the usual rules of grammar would say to use “I.” It does not surprise me at all that the prince would use this.
In fact, it is so common that I’m not so sure we can be so strict as to say that it is “incorrect.” If something commonly used in a prestige dialect, it is hard to argue it is a mistake.