BABY NEWS
Meghan Markle pregnant: Duchess & Prince Harry expecting baby number two as Archie is going ‘to be a big brother’
THRILLED Prince Harry and Meghan delivered their baby news last night by saying: “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother.”
The couple shared a black and white picture of themselves under a tree, with a shoeless Harry, 36, resting his hand on Meghan's head as she cradles her bump.
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The wonderful news comes just months after Meghan revealed her "unbearable grief" after suffering a miscarriage in July.
Their spokesman added: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”
The Queen and the rest of the royal family were said to be "delighted" at the news - with the baby due later this year.
Palace sources confirmed the Royals had been told Meghan, 39, was pregnant ahead of the announcement to the press.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: "Her Majesty, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and the entire family are delighted and wish them well.”
Rumours had been circulating that Meghan was pregnant after she had been pictured wearing a long overcoat in Los Angeles during hot weather.
The new arrival is set to be the first senior royal to be born outside of Britain since Prince Philip 100 years ago.
It comes as...
- Bookies have revealed their top picks for baby names - including Diana and Alfie
- The Queen is "delighted" by the news as she's set to welcome her 10th great grandchildren
- Piers Morgan attacked the Harry Couple for their 'cheesy' pregnancy pic
- Here is how Meghan appears to have kept her pregnancy secret
- Harry and Meghan's touching tribute to Diana in the announcement has been revealed
- Meghan won a high court privacy battle in a blow to press freedom
- The Duchess is tipped to "do an Arnie" and run for office in the US
- Just days ago Harry's cousin Princess Eugenie gave birth to her new son
Harry and Meghan's new tot will add to The Queen and Prince Philip's ever growing family brood.
Baby Sussex will be the couple's 10th or 11th great-grandchild depending on whether he or she arrives before or after Zara Tindall's baby, which is also due in 2021.
And he or she will be Prince Charles fifth grandchild, joining Archie and Prince William's children with George, Charlotte and Louis.
The Valentine's Day announcement came just five days after the royal family celebrated the arrival of Princess Eugenie's first child - a baby boy.
Meghan and Harry's new baby, like Archie, will grow up thousands of miles away from the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as his or her cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
He or she will still be eighth-in-line to the throne - and the most senior royal in the current line of succession to be born overseas.
They will not be entitled, at this stage, to be an HRH nor a prince or a princess due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by George V - but this is the same as what would have happened pre-Megxit.
The baby is entitled to be a Lord or a Lady, but Harry and Meghan will again opt to style their second-born a plain Master, like Archie, or a Miss, with the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
And in an incredible gesture, Harry and Meghan appear to have taken inspiration from the Prince's late mum Princess Diana.
Some 37 years ago today Diana announced she was expecting Harry - her second child - in a surprise reveal for Valentine's Day.
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Photographer Misan Harrison, 55, who took the baby announcement picture, posted on social media: “Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness this love story begin, and my friend, I am honoured to capture it grow.
"Congratulations to the Duke and the Duchess of Sussex on this joyous news.”
Betting opened last night on the likely names for the new baby with Charles and Diana among the front-runners.
The odds on a boy or girl are 10/11 apiece.
Alfie was the early favourite if it is a boy and Alexandra if it is a girl — both at 4/1.
These were closely followed by Charles or Charlie and Florence on 5/1. Diana was a 10/1 shot.
Harry is expected to come back to the UK alone this spring and summer for Prince Philip’s 100th birthday, the Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Queen’s official birthday and an unveiling of a Princess Diana statue at Kensington Palace. Meghan was not expected to join him.
The couple quit their roles as senior working royals in March 2020 in a quest for personal and financial freedom, and now live in an £11 million house in Montecito in California.
Meghan and Harry were married in May 2018 at St George's Chapel, going on to welcome son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor into the world a year later.
Archie is due to celebrate his second birthday on May 6.
The couple kept the birth of Archie very private and chose not to reveal the hospital where he would be born or pose for pictures with him immediately after his arrival.
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When they introduced Archie to the world two days after his birth, the parents gushed over his arrival.
New mum Meghan said at the time: "It's magic, it's pretty amazing. I have the two best guys in the world so I'm really happy."
She added: "He has the sweetest temperament, he's really calm."
His christening was also a private affair.
The couple have made no secret of their desire for a second child but they previously said two would be their limit for environmental reasons.
Recalling the devastation of her miscarriage, the Duchess penned a deeply person essay in .
She had been looking after her son Archie, who would have been about 14-months-old at the time, when she felt a "sharp cramp".
In the moving piece, she wrote: "After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.
"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second. Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand.
"I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears.
"Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal."
Meghan said she had decided to speak out about her loss because miscarriage was still a taboo subject which led to a "cycle of solitary mourning".
The former actress said she wanted to encourage people to ask "are you OK?" this holiday season.
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In the touching essay, she added: "Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine, I realized that the only way to begin to heal is to first ask, 'Are you OK?'"
The duchess referenced the interview she gave in South Africa last year when ITV journalist Tom Bradby asked her the same question.
At the time, she struggled to hold back tears, saying: "Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK."
And in the essay, Meghan spoke of the importance of sharing pain, saying "together we can take the first steps towards healing".
"Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few," she said.
"In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage.
"Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning."
She added: "Some have bravely shared their stories; they have opened the door, knowing that when one person speaks truth, it gives license for all of us to do the same.
"We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing, and when they really listen to the answer, with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter — for all of us.
"In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing."
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Sixth in line Harry and ex-actress Meghan have been busy securing the funding for their new life, signing a lucrative deal with streaming giant Netflix.
The contract is rumoured to be worth more than £150 million, and they signed another multi-million pound podcast deal with Spotify
They have also been working on their Archewell charitable foundation, but caused controversy when Harry was accused of political interference after he urged people in the US to "reject hate speech" and vote in the presidential elections.
On Thursday, Meghan was granted a summary judgment in relation to her privacy legal action over the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline's publication of a letter she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle.
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The judge ruled that the publication of the letter was "manifestly excessive and hence unlawful".
Critics have however described the win as a blow for press freedom and a victory for the rich and powerful.
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Meghan said in a statement that the win was "a victory for all "because we all deserve justice and truth, and we all deserve better".
She issued a deeply personal reaction after the judgment, thanking husband Harry, her mother Doria Ragland and her legal team for their "unrelenting support" that followed "two long years of pursuing litigation".
The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle reads 'Duck! Rabbit!' for Archie's birthday
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