Prince Harry has always liked to do things his own way, and the drip feed of information about his son Archie's birth has been no exception.

Key points: Meghan gave birth to Archie Harrison on May 6

Meghan gave birth to Archie Harrison on May 6 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have declined to release details about the birth

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have declined to release details about the birth Until 1948, Royal births were supposed to be witnessed by the home secretary

The Duke and Duchess' bid for privacy is a break in tradition for a family which was once forced to invite government ministers and courtiers into the birthing suite.

Those days are now over, but even Harry's older brother Prince William and other members of the British Royal family have been more open with the public about their children's births.

The couple has not said a word about where or how Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor arrived.

"They are starting as they mean to go on by keeping very close those details that normally we would know quite readily," royal correspondent and editor of the Australian Women's Weekly Juliet Rieden said.

"But the interest in this couple has increased a million-fold with this baby, so it's going to become more and more difficult for them to keep those battle lines of privacy safe."

One of the most prolific rumours circulating in British tabloids is whether Meghan's hope of having a home birth was dashed and she had to go to hospital.

"I think they are going to need to release a few more details or there will be this gross inaccuracy and misinformation spreading around the world," Rieden said.

However, over centuries, British Royal mothers have broken down barriers so they could have the births they wanted.

A long tradition of Royal home births

Queen Victoria was the first Royal to demand pain relief during labour. ( Supplied: Alexander Melville )

Home births used to be the norm for women in the British Royal family.

Queen Victoria gave birth to all nine of her children at home — in a room full of government ministers, ladies-in-waiting and privy councillors.

For the birth of her eighth child, she demanded the doctor give her chloroform to help ease her labour pains.

Victoria with her ninth child, Princess Beatrice. ( Wikimedia Commons: Alexander Bassano )

"Doctor Snow gave that blessed chloroform and the effect was soothing, quieting, and delightful beyond measure," she wrote in her diary in 1853.

The tradition of Royal home births continued well into the 20th century.

Queen Elizabeth was born at her grandfather's townhouse in the London suburb of Mayfair.

The Monarch went on to give birth to her first child, Prince Charles, at Buckingham Palace in 1948.

However, Royal expert and Flinders University Associate Professor Giselle Bastin said they were not typical home births.

"Queen Elizabeth had her children at home, but mind you, the surgery came to her," Professor Bastin said.

All four of Queen Elizabeth's children were born at home — even Charles who was delivered by caesarean section. ( Supplied: Royal Family )

Charles was delivered by caesarean section in a room converted into an operating theatre at the palace.

"It's not like she was sitting in a pool or had scented candles around her. It would have been a full-scale medical procedure," Professor Bastin said.

Her husband, Prince Philip, was in another part of the building playing squash with his private secretary while he waited for his first son to be born.

However, it is believed he became the first Royal father to be present in the delivery room when Prince Edward was born in 1964.

One person who was not allowed in the delivery room for the Queen's births was the British home secretary.

Until that point, the senior cabinet member had been required to be in the room for the deliveries of all major Royals.

"The home secretary had to be there to evidence that it was genuinely a Royal birth and that a baby hadn't been smuggled in," then home secretary Theresa May explained in 2013.

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The practice was discontinued by King George VI in 1948 before his daughter and heir Elizabeth gave birth to Charles.

Royal women start delivering at hospitals

The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, was the first Royal woman to elect to give birth in hospital.

She delivered her son Peter and daughter Zara at the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital in London.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, followed in Diana's footsteps by giving birth to her babies at St Mary's Hospital in London. ( Reuters: Suzanne Plunkett )

Generations of Royal women then chose to have their children at the exclusive Lindo Wing.

Kate Middleton delivered George there in 2013, Charlotte in 2015 and Louis last year, and it is where William and Harry themselves were born in the 1980s.

Kate emerged from the hospital just hours after giving birth to George in 2013 to pose for the media. ( Reuters: Neill Hall )

However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would not use the Lindo Wing as they preferred to keep the birth "private".

Some British tabloids were outraged that Meghan and Harry would not follow in Princess Diana and Kate Middleton's footsteps by presenting the child to the media hours after he was born.

The Sun newspaper said the couple was infringing on "our royal rights" by denying them the traditional photo opportunity.

Professor Bastin said the birth of Baby Sussex, regardless of whether it happened at home or in a hospital, broke new ground in another way.

The Duchess of Sussex's mother Doria Ragland came to England to be with her daughter for the birth. ( Reuters: Dominic Lipinski )

"Meghan's mother was in the vicinity, if not present, and that is very different, that is really a modern type of thing," she said.

"That would feel very Californian to the current Queen and Prince Phillip, but of course they would never say it."