The Royal Baby Might Make His Public Debut as Soon as This Week
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed a baby boy on Monday, and they’re planning to reveal his name in just two days.
Just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday, Meghan Markle gave birth to her first child, a baby boy, with Prince Harry. And though the royal couple has expressed a desire over the past several months to keep their child’s first days relatively private, allowing them to “celebrate… as a new family,” it looks like we may know more about the infant royal sooner than expected: In a statement to the press on Monday, Harry translated his utter joy over the birth of his first son (in both words and body language) and said he and Markle planned to reveal the baby’s name and give the public a first look at their new baby in just two days’ time.
The couple’s every decision surrounding the birth of their first child has been ruthlessly scrutinized—from reportedly electing to try a home birth (which ultimately didn’t pan out) to their perceived snub of the Royal Household doctors to their decision to forego the traditional Lindo Wing portrait—but in this case, they’re actually offering the public even more than precedent would demand.
Because Prince Harry falls behind his elder brother Prince William in the line of succession, his son is also further down, at seventh in line for the throne. So instead of looking to William and wife Kate Middleton for relevant precedent—William is second in line, his kids three through five, so there’s a good chance a Cambridge will sit on the throne—a more relevant analogue would be the births of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, who were born to Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson when Andrew fell just behind his elder brother Charles and his children in line for the throne. Andrew and Fergie waited a full week before revealing Eugenie’s name to the public, and Beatrice (reported at the time to be an unexpected choice of name) two weeks. (With the birth of the Sussexes’ unnamed son, Eugenie, Andrew, and Beatrice fall one more spot down the line of succession.)
Because Prince William and his children have a clearer route to the throne, it seems reasonable that they’ve got to subscribe to a more rigorous birth protocol. Meghan Markle’s baby may have been a little overdue—as Harry said, giving them more time to figure out a name—but we’re getting a name a few days sooner than we might have expected.
