Kensington Palace says Duchess of Sussex, who is on tour in Australia with her husband, is pregnant
Kensington Palace says Duchess of Sussex, who is on tour in Australia with her husband, is pregnant.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced that they are expecting a baby next spring.
A statement from Kensington Palace said: “Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.”
The couple are currently on tour in Australia.
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are said to be “delighted” for the couple.
Doria Ragland, the duchess’s mother, said she was “very happy about this lovely news” and “looks forward to welcoming her first grandchild”.
The duchess once described motherhood as being on her “bucket list”, while her husband has often spoken of his desire to have children.
On a trip to Belfast less than two months before she got married, the duchess – then Meghan Markle – joked when she was shown an innovative range for newborns: “I’m sure at some point we’ll need the whole (lot).”
And in an interview in 2016, she said: “I can’t wait to start a family, but in due time.”
The topic of children also cropped up in the couple’s engagement interview. Prince Harry said: “You know, I think one step at a time, and hopefully we’ll start a family in the near future.”
In 2015, he had said: “Of course I would love to have kids right now but there’s a process that one has to go through.
“Hopefully I’m doing all right by myself. It would be great to have someone else next to me to share the pressure, but you know, time will come and whatever happens, happens.”
The duchess’s father, Thomas Markle, had said he expected the royal couple would want to try for children soon.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain in an interview a month after the wedding: “She’s wanted children for a long time and when she met Harry and she spoke about how much she loves him, there’s got to be a child in the making, somewhere soon.”