Meghan and Harry’s touching Diana tribute in pregnancy announcement

Meghan and Harry paid a subtle tribute to the late Princess Diana as they announced they’re expecting their second child.

On this day in 1984, Princess Diana announced she was expecting her second child.

Fast forward 37 years and that very child, Prince Harry, has revealed he and his wife Meghan Markle are also expecting baby number two.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement via a spokesperson today – Valentine’s Day in the US – declaring: “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.”

The statement was released alongside a black-and-white portrait of Meghan caressing her bump as she lay on Harry’s lap in a garden.

Baby news! “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother,” says a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.” pic.twitter.com/GrqSiBxaXa

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) February 14, 2021

While the pair didn’t mention the significance of the date in their statement, it is a safe guess the timing was no coincidence.

Meghan and Harry’s first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born in May 2019, a year after the couple’s royal wedding in Windsor.

He was born at the private Portland Hospital in London, with baby number two expected to be delivered in the US after Meghan and Harry relocated to California last year.

The due date and gender is currently unknown.

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Meghan with baby Archie. Picture: Toby Melville – Pool/Getty Images

Diana, Princess of Wales holding Prince William while pregnant with Harry. Picture: AFP/Kensington Palace

It’s not the first time Meghan and Harry have paid subtle tribute to Princess Diana with their big public announcements.

Their official statement after the birth of Archie, which listed the names of those who had been notified of the birth, included Diana’s siblings.

“The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Earl Spencer have been informed and are delighted with the news,” the statement read.

This differed from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s press releases for their three children, which featured only the Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, along with “members of both families”.

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Harry and Meghan’s wonderful news comes after a devastating miscarriage in July last year. Picture: Handout/Chris Jackson/Invictus Games Foundation via Getty Images

The wonderful news of a royal baby comes after Meghan penned a heartbreaking piece for the New York Times in November, where she revealed she had suffered a miscarriage in July.

The 39-year-old described how she felt a “sharp cramp” one morning after changing Archie’s nappy.

“I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right,” she wrote.

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Meghan and Harry pictured during a private photo call following Archie’s birth. Picture: Dominic Lipinski / POOL / AFP

“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.

“Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.”