Royal baby: Why Meghan’s baby won’t be prince or princess
FROM possible name choices to titles, here’s the lowdown on the royal family’s much-anticipated, and surprisingly speedy, new arrival.
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MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry’s baby news signals a new era in the British royal family — their son or daughter will be the first mixed-race child to be an heir to the throne.
The baby, which is due sometime between March and June in 2019, will be the Queen’s eighth great-grandchild.
With her passion for charity work and gender equality, the free-thinking and impeccably stylish Meghan has injected a breath of fresh air into ‘The Firm’.
As a divorced, American, Catholic-raised woman of colour, the Duchess of Sussex has broken down numerous barriers within the royal family, which in previous generations would have been insurmountable.
LIVE BLOG: Follow Meghan and Harry live as they tour Sydney
Growing up in a prosperous area of Los Angeles to an African-American mother and a white father, Meghan’s childhood was a world away from Prince Harry’s boyhood in the full glare of the world’s media.
The new royal baby will be seventh in line to the throne and is too far down the line of succession to be an HRH.
Prince Harry — who as a child was nicknamed “the spare” to older brother and heir Prince William — is currently sixth in line.
He has been gradually bumped down the pecking order by William’s children George, Charlotte and Louis.
The birth of Charlotte changed Prince Harry’s position in line to the throne after the law of succession was changed in 2016 to mean that princes no longer take precedence over their sisters.
Just like Prince William’s children have taken his title Cambridge as their surname, Meghan and Harry’s child will most likely take the surname Sussex when they go to school.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and newlywed Princess Eugenie, go by the surname York while Prince Harry and Prince William use the last name Wales.
As Meghan and Harry’s child is so far down the line of succession, he or she will not be prince or princess unless the Queen steps in.
In terms of titles, the child will become either the Earl of Dumbarton or Lady Mountbatten-Windsor.
According to the peerage guide, Debrett’s, the eldest son and heir apparent of a duke can use one of his father’s lesser grade peerage titles by courtesy,
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 Mountbatten-Windsor, and any subsequent sons Lord Mounbatten-Windsor.
One of the most hotly anticipated questions of any royal baby announcement, apart from the question of its gender, is what its name will be.
The basic rule of thumb is that the higher up the expected child is in the order of succession to the throne, the more likely it will have a traditional name, and the further down the line, the more unusual the name can be.
Princess Anne called her firstborn daughter Zara, while Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson went out on a limb with the name Beatrice, and even further out with Eugenie.
Prince Harry’s firstborn child will automatically become seventh in line to the throne: a prestigious position, to be sure, but unlikely to ever rule as monarch, so don’t expect Harry and Meghan to opt for something too traditional.
Add to this Meghan’s African-American heritage and a whole host of possible names come up as chances. Expect the bookies to have a field day with this question.
Although it may seem that Meghan and Harry have not wasted any time in starting a family, other royal couples have been even quicker.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana had been married just over three months when Buckingham Palace announced they were expecting the royal heir. The couple were married on July 29, 1981, and the pregnancy announcement came on November 5 — a mere 14 weeks and one day later.
By comparison, the gap between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge getting married and announcing a pregnancy was much longer. William and Catherine were married on April 29, 2011 and her pregnancy was announced on December 3, 2012 — a gap of 83 weeks and three days.
It’s taken the Duke and Duchess of Sussex far less than that to fall pregnant - with a gap of 21 weeks and two days between their wedding (May 19 this year) and today’s announcement.
Royal watchers had speculated that the couple would try to have a baby as quickly as possible due to Meghan’s age.
The Duchess of Sussex turned 37 on August 4, which means she is about 10 years older than the average age for first-time mothers in the UK. (According to 2015 data, 28.6 is the average.)
By comparison, Harry is a little closer to the average for dads. According to the British Office for National Statistics, the average age for all dads in the UK is 33.2 years. Harry turned 34 exactly one month ago, on September 15.
If Meghan decides to stick with royal tradition, the new royal baby will be born at the private Lindo Wing in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.
The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to all three of her children there. Princess Diana also opted for the Lindo Wing when she gave birth to her sons William and Harry.
It is close to Kensington Palace and well practised at dealing with royal births, and the publicity surrounding them.
Originally published as Royal baby: Why Meghan’s baby won’t be prince or princess