There’s a new royal baby on its way as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce that they’re expecting their first child.

The baby will be born in Spring 2019 and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to be ‘very pleased’, according to Kensington Palace.

Meghan is said to be in good health and has had a 12-week scan. The baby will be seventh in line to the throne.

There had been speculation over the weekend that Meghan was showing signs of pregnancy (Picture: EPA)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have announced that they are expecting a baby (Picture: Getty)

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The palace said in a statement: ‘Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.




‘Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.

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‘The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted for the couple and were able to congratulate them on Friday at the wedding in person.’

Meghan’s mum Doria Ragland is ‘very happy about this lovely news’ and ‘looks forward to welcoming her first grandchild’.

The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are said to be ‘delighted’ for the couple.

The Queen is said to be ‘delighted’ with the announcement that she is to become a great-grandmother again (Picture: Getty)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are currently in Australia for their first royal tour as a married couple.

Harry and Meghan arrived into a rainy Sydney on Monday for the start of a 16-day visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

The trip, their first outside the UK and Ireland, will officially begin on Tuesday and will see the couple watch the Invictus Games, visit a Sydney zoo and visit the rural Flying Doctor service.

The couple were driven from the airport to Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of Governor General Peter Cosgrove, the representative of the Queen in the country.

Kensington Palace confirmed that they were expecting a baby after a weekend of speculation (Picture: Kensington Palace)

Meghan and Harry arrived in Australia ahead of their first royal tour as a married couple (Picture: Splash News)

Hundreds of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the couple and cheered as their car was driven into the property a short distance from the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The 76 engagements also include visits to schools, greeting members of the public at the Sydney Opera House, and meeting young leaders and community members at Government House.

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After Australia, the couple will fly to Fiji, where they will be greeted with an arrival ceremony similar to one attended by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1953.

In Fiji, Harry will pay tribute to Fijian war veterans and the couple will attend a state dinner, before flying to Tonga.

The tour will conclude with a four-day trip to New Zealand, where they will be greeted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

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The couple only got married in May this year and the baby is due next spring (Picture: PA)

The Duke and Duchess will learn about environmental challenges while in Wellington, visit a charity which supports children with parents in prison, and meet members of the public in Auckland and Rotura.

Harry and Meghan will return to London from Auckland on November 1.



Kensington Palace said in a statement: ‘There is a long history of friendship between the royal family and Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, and their links with the UK are extensive.

‘The duke and duchess are very much looking forward to experiencing the unique cultures and customs of those four Commonwealth countries and have asked that this tour allow them opportunities to meet as many Australians, Fijians, Tongans, and New Zealanders as possible.’

Why Harry and Meghan's baby won't be a prince or princess The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby will not be a prince nor a princess unless the Queen steps in. King George V – Harry’s great great grandfather – limited titles within the royal family in 1917. This means Harry and Meghan’s first born, as a great-grandchild of the sovereign, is too far down the line of succession to be an HRH. George V declared that: ‘the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have and enjoy in all occasions the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes of these Our Realms.’ The eldest son and heir apparent of a duke can use one of his father’s lesser grade peerage titles by courtesy, according to Debrett’s. So a first son of Harry’s would become Earl of Dumbarton – one of the subsidiary titles Harry received from the Queen on the morning of his wedding. A daughter would be Lady (first name) Mountbatten-Windsor, and any subsequent sons Lord (first name) Mounbatten-Windsor. But the Queen could make changes to allow Harry and Meghan’s children to be HRHs and princes and princesses. Ahead of Prince George’s birth, the monarch issued a Letters Patent to ensure the Cambridge children had fitting titles. Without this Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis would have been a Lady and a Lord instead, but Prince George, as the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, would still have been a prince. The Queen could decide to do the same for Harry and Meghan’s baby. But this royal infant is unlikely ever to accede to the throne. The duke may heed the words of his cousin Zara Tindall when discussing such matters with the Queen, and deciding which titles his child should use. Zara, who was born Miss Zara Phillips, has spoken of how not having a title was a blessing. ‘I’ve been very lucky. My parents didn’t give us titles, so we’ve been able to have a slightly more normal upbringing. As soon as you’ve got a title, it’s very difficult to shed it,’ she said. Harry too has told of the pressures of being a prince and has always stressed the importance of being seen as ‘normal’. He confessed in 2017 that he once ‘wanted out’ of the Royal Family. Harry said the time he spent in the Army – when he was ‘just Harry’ – was ‘the best escape I’ve ever had’ and he once considered giving up his title. ‘I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself,’ he said. The Earl and Countess of Wessex’s children Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and Viscount Severn are actually entitled to be a princess and prince as children of the son of the sovereign. But the couple decided, with the Queen’s agreement, that their children would use the courtesy titles as sons or daughters of an earl rather than the style prince or princess. An example of a royal duke handing down a courtesy title to his son is the Queen’s cousin the Duke of Gloucester when his son Alexander was born in 1974. Alex is known by the duke’s subsidiary title Earl of Ulster, while the duke’s daughters, before their marriages, were Lady Davina Windsor, and Lady Rose Windsor. Earl of Ulster’s own son Xan – the duke’s grandchild – is Lord Culleden – taken from the duke’s third title Baron Culleden. If Harry had a son who had a son – Harry’s grandchild – he would be Lord Kilkeel, taken from Harry’s third title Baron Kilkeel.

Royal baby in numbers 2 – Baby Sussex will have two homes – Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace and a country hideaway in the Cotswolds. 2 – The Sussexes already have two family pets – Meghan’s beagle Guy, and a new black labrador called Oz. 3 – Baby’s royal first cousins – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. 4 – The infant will be the Prince of Wales’s fourth grandchild. 6 – Harry’s place in line to the throne. 7 – The baby will be born seventh in line to the throne. 7 – Meghan starred in seven seasons of the US legal drama Suits as paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane before marrying Harry. 8 – The Queen’s great-grandchildren after the baby is born. Newest additions include Prince Louis and Lena Tindall. 8 – The Duke of York’s position in line to the throne after the baby’s arrival. Andrew was born second in line in 1960. 34 – Harry’s age. 37 – Meghan’s age. 41 – Royal births are celebrated with a 41-gun salute. £7,500 – Cost of a one night stay and delivery package at the private Lindo Wing, where Prince George and his siblings were born, including a suite of two rooms, but excluding consultants’ fees. £47.4 million – The amount the Queen received from the taxpayer via the Sovereign Grant in 2017-2018 – 69p for each person in the country.