Meghan, Harry’s post-baby plans
Friends close to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have revealed what the couple will do after the birth of their daughter.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry “want proper time off” when their baby daughter is born, according to reports.
The Sussexes are expecting the second child in the early northern hemisphere summer, with Meghan planning a home birth at her luxury LA mansion, according to The Sun.
The baby will be the first royal to be born in the US.
Sources have told Vanity Fair in a new report that following the child’s birth the couple want to “take leave” and spend “proper time together as a family”.
The magazine reports sources close to the couple claiming they plan to take paternity and maternity leave when their daughter is born – as they feel their working commitments over the past year have impacted family time.
Meanwhile, Piers Morgan has sarcastically called for the Archbishop of Canterbury to be sacked for “disbelieving” Meghan’s secret wedding claims.
It comes after the Archbishop Justin Welby confirmed Meghan and Prince Harry weren’t legally married in their back garden three days before the royal wedding – despite making these claims during their Oprah Winfrey chat.
He tweeted: “The Archbishop of Canterbury should either apologise for disbelieving Meghan Markle’s secret wedding claims – or lose his job.”
ARCHBISHOP REJECTS MEGHAN’S SHOCK CLAIM
Indeed, the Archbishop of Canterbury revealed Meghan and Prince Harry weren’t legally married in their back garden three days before the royal wedding.
During the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah, Meghan claimed that she and Prince Harry tied the knot “in our backyard” before the lavish public ceremony at Windsor Castle in May, 2018.
The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah only she, Prince Harry and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby were there, with Prince Harry later adding: “Just the three of us.”
Meghan’s claim was thrown into doubt with Stephen Borton, who drew up the licence for the wedding, telling The Sun Meghan was “obviously confused”.
The Archbishop has now told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the wedding seen by millions across the world was the real deal.
He said: “If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential. It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to.
“I had a number of private and pastoral meetings with the Duke and Duchess before the wedding.
“The legal wedding was on the Saturday.
“I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false.
“So you can make what you like about, but the legal wedding was on the Saturday.
“I won’t say what happened at any other meetings.”
MEGHAN PLANS HOME BIRTH
Meghan Markle is planning a home birth at her luxury Californian mansion when she and Prince Harry welcome their second child.
The Duchess of Sussex plans to deliver her daughter at home in the early American summer, according to sources.
The baby will be the first royal to be born in the US.
Meghan initially wanted to give birth to the couple’s first child Archie Harrison at Frogmore Cottage, while attended by an all-female midwife team.
But her dreams of a home birth were dashed as she gave birth at London’s private Portland Hospital on May 6 2019.
A royal source has told Page Six the former Suits actor is determined to give birth to her second child without the need to go to hospital.
“Meghan’s plan was to have a home birth with Archie, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans,” a source said.
“In the end, her doctors advised her to go to hospital and all she was interested in was about delivering Archie safely.
“But she has a beautiful home in California. It’s a beautiful setting to give birth to her baby girl.”
Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, bought their $US14.5 million Montecito estate last year after quitting their senior roles in the royal family and moving to California.
And they announced in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey they’re expecting a girl.
During the interview, Meghan said she’s due to give birth this summer although didn’t confirm a date.
‘ROYAL ATTACK’
Kate Middleton’s uncle has launched a scathing attack against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, defending his niece by saying “she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
Gary Goldsmith is the first from the Middleton family to break their silence after Markle told Oprah Winfrey the Duchess of Cambridge reduced her to tears in the lead-up to her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
“I’ve known Kate since she was born and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. It’s just simply not in her nature. She’s even lovelier on the inside than on the outside. If anyone had a hissy fit, it must have been Meghan. Kate would have been trying to make the peace,” Goldsmith told CBS.
The alleged row broke out between the sisters-in-law over a bridesmaid dress for Princess Charlotte. Originally, it was reported Markle had made Middleton cry, but during her tell-all interview with Winfrey, Markle claimed “the reverse happened.”
Goldsmith, who is the younger brother of Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton, slammed the Duchess of Sussex, saying he doesn’t “believe a word that comes out of” her mouth.
“I would fight for Kate’s honour until the day I die. She is the most spectacular person I’ve ever met.”
During the televised interview, Goldsmith also challenged the now US-based couple’s claims that the Royal Family offered no support when Meghan was experiencing mental health issues.
“The last time I checked, he [Prince Harry] was the face of a mental wellbeing charity. Where was he in all this? Surely as her husband, he should have been able to give her the help and support she needed,” Goldsmith said.
“He’s a senior army officer who has been in a war zone. He should be able to stand up for himself and his wife.”
Echoing the sentiments of now ousted Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, Goldsmith continued, “He [Prince Harry] shouldn’t claim to be family-centric when he has hurt everyone who loves him. You don’t ask for anonymity and take a step back from public life to then throw your family and your grandmother under a bus on TV.
“Why would you do that? The royal family is not racist, it’s not sexist, it’s not ageist. They are a moral compass.”
Goldsmith made headlines in recent years after being arrested for assault after he was caught punching his then fourth wife in the face, and was famously filmed snorting cocaine on camera at his Ibiza mansion.
CHARITY KEPT MARKLE DONATION SECRET
A British charity tackling racism and poverty says it kept Meghan Markle’s £10,000 ($A18,000) donation hidden over fears she could damage its reputation.
Meghan gifted the money to Himmah, which fights racism and poverty in Nottingham, England in August 2020, but the charity kept it a secret.
According to the BBC, director Sajid Mohammad said it was feared the duchess was disliked “like Marmite” and could damage Himmah’s reputation.
But he added her comments about racism which she aired in the TV interview with Oprah Winfrey made them want to “show solidarity”.
The money was given to the charity from The Royal Foundation and has been used to stock the food bank and the Salaam Shalom Kitchen, which the only joint Muslim-Jewish community kitchen in the UK.
Mr Mohammad said: “The reason we didn’t go public is the trustees took a view that she was like Marmite and there could be reputational issues – people not liking our charity because they don’t like her – so we decided to keep the donation secret.
“After the interview we realised we’re a poverty and race organisation [and] that we needed to show solidarity.”
In the interview with Oprah, Harry and Meghan raised issues of racism within the royal family and the media.
The charity wanted to “show solidarity” with the Duchess of Sussex after her interview with Oprah Winfrey
Mr Mohammad said by speaking out about the donation he wants to make people think “beyond the interview” to the couple’s charity work.
“I think that work needs to be recognised,” he said.
Mr Mohammad said he initially thought the donation – made via email – was “an elaborate hoax”.
When he realised it was genuine, he said: “I actually cried”.
He said the trustees and volunteers were “completely moved by the very kind and generous and gracious words of the duchess”.
PIERS TROLLED OVER MEGHAN SPRAY
Embattled TV host Piers Morgan has revealed that internet trolls threatened to murder him in front of his children over his recent on camera anti-Meghan Markle rant.
The former Good Morning Britain presenter admitted he should not have stormed off the TV set and has stood by the comments that cost him his job.
He has revealed that his three sons were targeted and sent him screenshots of abuse they received online, according to The Sun.
“None of them even care about Meghan Markle, let alone agree with my views on her. Yet the Twitter troll mob has found them guilty by association,” Morgan said.
“One troll vowed to murder me in front of them, and added, ‘When your dad dies, the world will have a party.’
“Normally, I revel in the noise. But unregulated social media, as anyone in the public eye will confirm, has got increasingly vicious and nasty.”
Morgan, 55, was forced out of Good Morning Britain for saying he did not believe a word that the Duchess of Sussex said in her Oprah Winfrey interview.
He had stormed off set after an on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford, 40.
Writing an opinion piece in the Mail on Sunday, Morgan said: “I knew it wasn’t a good look, the great snowflake-basher running away from confrontation. And on reflection, I shouldn’t have done it.”
But referring to his late manager John Ferriter, he said it was better to quit than make an on-air apology.
He wrote: “All I heard back was John’s regular refrain, ‘Trust your gut!’
“Suddenly, I reached a moment of total gut clarity: f**k it, I wasn’t going to apologise for disbelieving Meghan Markle, because the truth is that I don’t believe Meghan Markle.
“And in a free, democratic society, I should be allowed not to believe someone, and to say that I don’t believe them. That, surely, is the very essence of freedom of speech?”