Welcome to The Royalist—all the latest royal news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman. For Beast Inside members only.
Induced Labor and Hospital Birth On Cards For Meghan
Despite the convictions of conspiracy theorists who claim the royal baby has already been born, the bald truth is that there was no sign of anything happening as dawn broke over Windsor on Sunday morning. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly likely that Meghan Markle, now believed to be a week overdue, will soon be advised to have her labor induced. The Mail on Sunday suggests that induced labor would rule out the home birth Meghan had hoped for, but, unless the baby makes a move in the next 48 hours, that's the most likely route. Medics can wait up to 42 weeks or more to induce labor, but first-time mothers aged 35 or older (Meghan is 37) are usually advised to have labor induced sooner because this group is generally at a higher risk of birth complications.
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Likeability
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Instagram account has racked up over five million followers in the first month of its existence, and it seems likely the proud parents will use the app to share the first ever pictures of their baby. It is expected that the picture of the new royal baby will be widely shared across the network and some think it could become Insta’s most liked picture ever.
The current record with, 54m likes, is a picture of an egg cracking. Knocking that image off the top spot could be slightly awks as it was used as a Hulu campaign for mental health. Kylie Jenner’s baby pic is number two with a paltry 19m likes.
Egg on Face
While we are on the subject of eggs, did the queen really give Meghan Markle a dressing down over them? The story goes that Meghan had popped over to Windsor Castle to road-test some wedding day nosh, objecting to one dish which she claimed she could taste egg in. The staff said there was no egg in said dish. Oh no, this was a potential disaster!!! What about all of Meghan’s Hollywood friends with macrobiotic no-egg diets?
Katie Nicholl told Yahoo News' Royal Box: “[Meghan] got very upset when she felt that she could taste egg in a dish when she was told there was no egg in there, and she said, ‘No, I can taste it, I can taste there's egg in this dish.’
“I think there was a bit of an upset when suddenly the Queen walked in, because of course, this was Windsor Castle, this is her home. And she just quietly took Meghan to the side and said, ‘Meghan, in this family we don't speak to people like that.’”
Cholmondeley update
Anxious for some peace and quiet after rumors that she was having an affair with Prince William broke, the Daily Beast hears that Rose Hanbury and her husband David Cholmondeley nipped off on holiday shortly after the stories started appearing. Their choice of destination? Sri Lanka, where, days after their arrival, the country descended into mayhem as suicide bombers carried out the worst series of terror attacks since 9/11.
Unfollow
Harry and Meghan unfollowed Kate and William on Instagram this week. It wasn’t, however, a digital snub; they unfollowed everyone, and re-followed just nine accounts focused on mental wellness to help draw attention to their causes.
Royal fashion watch
Princess Charlotte steals the show this week in a set of lovely 4th birthday pictures taken by mom Kate Middleton in April.
Few could argue with the adorability-factor of the photographs. Of course, Kate has won equal parts of acclaim and disdain for her own deeply conservative style of dressing, and her style is amply reflected in Charlotte’s sartorial choices.
One person who will definitely approve is the Queen. A source tells the Daily Beast that when asked at Ascot one year why she had chosen to wear designer Hardy Amies, HM replied, “Well, at least you know it won’t scare the horses.”
This week in royal history
Any day when we're talking about Princess Margaret is a good one. The queen's younger sister married Antony Armstrong-Jones on May 6, 1960, at Westminster Abbey. They had two children, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, and divorced in 1978. The Crown does a pretty great job of capturing Margaret's diva-ishness and strained relationship with her sister.
No Rush
Prince Harry is off to the Netherlands on Thursday to launch this year’s Invictus Games, and Prince Charles is away from Tuesday for three days. One can’t help thinking certain other things were expected to happen a bit sooner.
