There’s a new royal baby on the way!
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting their second child, a spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost on Sunday.
“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 spokesperson said in a statement.
They couple welcomed their first child, son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May 2019. He’s seventh in line to the throne, but his parents chose not to give him a royal title.
The couple shared a black-and-white photo by their friend, photographer Misan Harriman, who captured them outdoors in a socially-distanced photo taken with an iPad.
“With the tree of life behind them and the garden representing fertility, life and moving forward, they didn’t need any direction, because they are, and always have been, waltzing through life together as absolute soulmates,” Harriman told British Vogue.
“When you see people who have the connection that they have, it’s like reading the pages of a book.”
The magazine also reported that in the photo, Meghan was wearing a custom a Carolina Herrera dress that was made for her while she was pregnant with Archie.
Queen Elizabeth is “delighted,” according to a statement from Buckingham Palace.
“Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and the entire royal family are delighted and wish them well.”
The couple married in May 2018, and announced that they were expecting their first child in October of that year. They surprised the public by choosing the name “Archie” over more conventional royal names like Alexander, Edward or Albert.
Just hours after Archie was born, Prince Harry gave a brief interview to assembled reporters, beaming as she shared the news that he had officially become a dad.
Watching the baby be born was “the most amazing experience I could have ever possibly imagined,” he said. “How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension.”
Later, after a reporter pointed out that he couldn’t stop smiling, he added that he’s “so incredibly proud” of his wife.
“As every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing, but this little thing is absolutely to die for,” he said. “I’m just over the moon.”
Watch: Prince Harry’s sweet interview right after his wife, Meghan Markle, gave birth to a baby boy. Story continues after video.
Meghan broke royal tradition by choosing not doing a photo shoot with the new baby the same day she gave birth. The move was applauded by many moms, among them HuffPost Canada Parents editor Natalie Stechyson, who wrote, “Even as the world clamours for these first images of the royal babies, those perfect pics can be damaging to new moms who, you know, look and feel ever so slightly less coiffed mere hours or days after giving birth.”
At their first press conference with the baby, two days after he was born, Meghan said the baby “has the sweetest temperament, he’s really calm.”
“It’s magic, it’s pretty amazing,” she said. “I have the two best guys in the world so I’m really happy.”
While the couple doesn’t share very much of their family life, we’ve caught glimpses of little Archie here and there. He made a surprise appearance on the first episode of Harry and Meghan’s podcast in December, when he wished listeners a happy new year and gave a ridiculously cute giggle.
Harry and Meghan’s situation has changed quite a bit since the birth of their firstborn. Last January, they announced they planned to step down from their roles as senior working members of the Royal Family. They spent several month in British Columbia before moving to Meghan’s home state of California.
This November, Meghan opened up about the pregnancy loss she experienced over the summer.
“Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few,” she wrote in a piece for the New York Times. “In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage.”
The fact that Harry and Meghan announced that they’re expecting a second baby on Valentine’s Day didn’t go unnoticed. Eagle-eyed royal fans noticed that Prince Harry’s mother Princess Diana announced that she was pregnant with him on Valentine’s Day as well, back in 1984.
Their new baby will be the Queen’s eleventh great-grandchild. Her ninth, a boy born to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, was born on Feb. 9. Zara Tindall, Princess Anne’s daughter, announced in December that she and her husband Mike Tindall are expecting their third child.
