Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are having another child.
“We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child,” a spokesperson for the couple said on Sunday.
A source told The Daily Beast that Harry and Meghan told their families of the happy news before making it public.
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A spokesperson for the queen told The Daily Beast that she and the entire family were “delighted” by the news.
The Valentine’s Day announcement was accompanied by a photograph of Harry sitting under a tree with Meghan’s head resting on his lap—her baby bump clearly visible.
The image was taken remotely by Misan Harriman, who said in a tweet: “Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness this love story begin, and my friend, I am honored to capture it grow. Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on this joyous news!”
Meghan was widely rumored to be pregnant last year, when she applied for her privacy action against the Mail on Sunday to be delayed for a “confidential” reason.
Meghan suffered a miscarriage in July last year, and wrote a moving article about the traumatic experience for the New York Times.
In the piece she described how the miscarriage, “shattered” her heart.
Meghan wrote: “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few. 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.”
It has not been revealed how far along in her pregnancy Meghan, 39, is, or when the baby is due.
Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie welcomed a baby boy on February 9.
Archie was born on May 6, 2019, meaning he will shortly turn 2.
The timing of today’s announcement echoes the way Diana, Princess of Wales revealed she was expecting her second child, Prince Harry, on Feb 13 1984, news that was reported in the newspapers on Valentine’s Day.
A friend of the Sussexes told The Daily Beast that the choice of St Valentine’s Day was deliberate and intentional, saying: “They received so much love after their loss last year that they wanted to share love back and confirm their joyful news, and today felt like the perfect day to do that.”
