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Kensington Palace today confirmed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will shun tradition and keep the birth of their baby private, only announcing the arrival to the public once they have celebrated as a family, and opting out of photos outside the hospital.
The announcement follows speculation surrounding where Meghan will deliver.
While some reports suggest she has opted for the nearby Frimley Park hospital, where Sophie, Countess of Wessex also welcomed her two children, others say Meghan has instead opted for a home birth at her and Harry’s new home of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
Harry & Meghan: From birth to now. Post continues after video.
It is understood Meghan may have made the decision for a home birth as a nod to the Queen, who was born at the Mayfair home of her grandparents, and gave birth to all four of her children at either Buckingham Palace or Clarence House.
A Kensington Palace spokesman today said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby.
“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.”
As reported by the Daily Mail, a friend of Meghan’s from the US strongly hinted she was leaning towards delivering the baby in the privacy of the cottage.
“It is her favoured choice,” the unnamed source said, “but it obviously depends on how things are nearer the time.”
The option would also have the added benefit of giving the couple the privacy they crave.
The Duke and Duchess ruled out the option of using the private Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where Kate Middleton delivered George, now five, Charlotte, three, and 11-month-old Louis.
It is understood the Duchess was not a fan of the idea of standing on the steps of the maternity unit surrounded by paparazzi just hours after giving birth to her first child.
“The child will not be born at the Lindo,” The Sun reports an unnamed royal source as saying.
“She and Harry have decided that rather than go somewhere as public as the Lindo, they will allow Meghan to recover somewhere more private,” they added.
Meghan also chose to appoint her own delivery team, led by a female doctor, refusing to have “men in suits” oversee her birth.
“Meghan said she doesn’t want the men in suits. She was adamant that she wanted her own people. It did leave a few of us a little baffled,” the source was quoted as saying to the The Daily Mail.
“It is slightly surprising. These people [the Queen’s doctors] are the best of the best and when it comes down to it, their role would actually be very limited in the birth itself, assuming all goes to plan,” they were reported as adding.
If true, this means that Alan Farthing and Guy Thorpe-Beeston, gynaecologists who specialise in high risk births and who have overseen the arrival of all three of Kate Middleton’s children, won’t be present.
However, Meghan was not able to completely snub the tradition.
It is official royal protocol to include some of the Queen’s doctors, so these medical professionals will be on standby should there be complications with the birth.
The source also reported that the baby - who will be seventh in line to the British throne - is due next month.
Top Comments
I like that they are more low-key than waity and her show-off ways.
You're referring to the future Queen there. Of course Kate and William are and should be "show offs" - they are literally the future of the monarchy - visibility and currency is key for them. And yet, we don't see "Waity" merching and pap walking at every given opportunity. Funny, that...
Her parents do the merchy stuff for her
Based on this announcement, you would have to assume home birth. Otherwise, there is going to be a hell of a lot of press camped near their property watching for movement and camped outside possible hospitals to get that first photo worth a fortune. It's probably a risky move going down this path rather than what the Cambridges did - it puts more value on someone getting a pap photo before any official photo is released, so the paps are going to try harder to get it.
They'll either have a pic ready to go on their Instagram or a magazine deal in the wings. I'm betting this is just merching brand curation, and not a bid for "privacy".
Probably an exclusive with Hello magazine.
I doubt it will be a magazine deal unless the queen's approved it for charitable reasons. But yes, probably it will result in a curated instagram post similar to what we saw for their engagement.
Oh, I have no doubt the charity angle will be heavily promoted. My tip is that they'll try to get Annie Leibovitz or someone similar (and appropriately associated with celebrity) to do their artfully arranged, intimate family portrait. Or, "HRH Prince Harry took this photograph himself" - similar to the oh-so-very-relatable magazine shots Brad Pitt took of Angelina and her babes.