Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal baby: Everything we know so far
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's big day is getting closer, even though it feels like it was only yesterday that the royal couple announced their pregnancy to the world. People from all around the globe have been obsessing over the upcoming royal child, especially in regards to the due date, gender, and, of course, name.
As the royal family nears the final days of Meghan's pregnancy, here's all you need to know about the upcoming royal baby.
Royal baby's possible arrival into the world
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were pregnant just five months after their grand wedding in May last year. Fans of the royal couple were stoked when in a statement made on October 15, the couple said that 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.
With the possibility of Meghan's baby being born in April, the newborn could possibly be looking at sharing birthdays with either cousin, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte, born on April 23 and May 2 respectively. Or, the toddler could even share a birthday with the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II herself, whose birthday falls on April 21.
Royal baby's place of birth
Meghan and Prince Harry will be departing from royal family tradition and have already announced that unlike Prince William and Kate, they will not be using the Lindo Wing, the famous maternity unit of St Mary’s Hospital where Kate Middleton and Princess Diana gave birth. Instead, the royal couple plan to use a private unit closer to their home of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
It is also being speculated that Meghan might take the same road towards birthing as the Queen, who gave birth to all her children in the privacy of the Buckingham Palace, unlike Princess Diana or Kate.
Royal baby's birth announcement
According to Kensington Palace officials, Meghan and Harry "have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private," even though it has been a royal family tradition to let the public know about the baby's arrival on the same day as they're born.
The statement from the Palace also mentioned, "The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had the opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family." This means that there will be no photos on the steps of a hospital for Meghan and Harry when their baby is born, unlike Kate Middleton and Prince William, who posed on the steps of Lindo Wing just hours after the births of their three children.
Meghan and Harry's baby in the British family's line of succession
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's upcoming child will be seventh-in-line to the throne, pushing down the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, to the eighth position.
The baby's royal title
Harry and Meghan's child will not be given the title of prince or princess unless the Queen chooses to intervene and bend the rules. Since Harry is the second son of the current Prince of Wales, his children will not have the title of prince or princess. It was Harry's great-great-grandfather King George V who limited titles within the royal family in 1917.
If it is a boy, then he would be given the title the Earl of Dumbarton while a daughter would be Lady (first name) Mountbatten-Windsor. The royal baby 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.
Possible royal baby names
Amid all the speculation regarding the possible names that Meghan and Harry could choose for their upcoming child, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, formerly teased that during their tour of Australia, he and Camilla were offered countless thoughtful baby name suggestions, and he suspected that Kylie or Shane may make the final cut.
However, as per Betfair, if the royal baby is a girl, chances are that she'll be named Diana, after Harry’s mother. However, other names such as Grace, Alexandrina, Victoria, Alice, and Elizabeth have also been doing the rounds as potential names for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal baby. If it's a boy, the couple is likely to pick names like Charles (after Harry's father), Arthur, James, Edward, Alexander, and Oliver.
Potential godparents of the royal baby
It is believed that Prince Harry and Meghan will follow in the footsteps of Prince William and Kate when it comes to choosing godparents for their child, since the couple seems to be in favor of picking close friends as godparents, over an extended family. It is being speculated that Meghan's best friend and stylist Jessica Mulroney and her husband Ben, son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, could be potential godparents to the child, just like Benita Litt, one of Meghan's oldest and closest friends.
Other celebrities like Serena Williams, George and Amal Clooney, as well as Oprah Winfrey, are also in the running for Prince Harry and Meghan's potential list of godparents to their child. On Harry’s side, family friends Major Nicholas van Cutsem, Guy Pelly and Tom Inskip are also thought to get a look-in. It is also being speculated that Meghan and Harry could choose Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank as godparents while people who were close to Princess Diana, including Harry’s former nanny Tiggy Pettifer and Diana’s best friend Julia Samuel, may also get the nod.
Dual citizenship
With the birth of Meghan Markle's baby just around the corner, Meghan and her baby will be liable to pay tax in the US. The US is one of the few countries which charges tax based on citizenship and not residency which means that even if Meghan and Harry live at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, the US government still expects Meghan to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
This also applies to Prince Harry and Meghan's baby as well. Any American who has lived in the US in the last five years automatically passes on their citizenship to their offspring. It is reported that Meghan may apply for UK citizenship but the process is expected to take time.
