Royal baby: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcome 'healthy' son, their first child together
Congratulations to the royal couple! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finally announced the birth of their newborn baby boy, Buckingham Palace revealed.
The 37-year-old Duchess of Sussex started labor early Monday and reportedly gave birth to the boy at 5:26 am.
"We are pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their firstborn child in the early morning on May 6th, 2019. Their Royal Highnesses’ son weighs 7lbs. 3oz," the statement from Buckingham Palace read.
The duchess' mother Doria Ragland was with Meghan at Frogmore Cottage, suggesting that the royal had a home birth.
"The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives. More details will be shared in the forthcoming days."
The baby is seventh-in-line to the throne, pushing the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, down to the eighth position. He will reportedly take on the Sussex title the same way that Prince William and Kate Middleton's children George, Charlotte, and Louis have taken on the Cambridge title as their last name at school.
Meghan and Harry, who tied the knot in May last year, had earlier announced that they would not be following in the footsteps of Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in terms of announcing the birth of their newborn right after giving birth.
Instead, the royal couple issued an announcement prior to their baby's birth saying: "Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were pregnant just five months after their grand wedding last year. Fans of the royal couple were stoked when in a statement made on October 15, the couple said they will welcome their first child in Spring 2019.
Although spring can last for a span of 3-4 months, a pregnant Meghan accidentally let her due date slip to well-wishers in Birkenhead, where she admitted that she was six months pregnant, in the middle of January. This narrowed down the royal's possible due date to be somewhere around the second half of April.
Even before their baby's arrival, Meghan and Harry were very clear that they want to raise their child without gender-stereotyping, i.e. they plan to raise their child with a fluid approach to gender and they won’t be imposing any stereotypes. While working on the baby's nursery, Meghan reportedly used "vegan paint" infused with eucalyptus oil to paint the "gender-free" nursery.