Harry and Meghan: Newest royal baby could be an American

By: Gregory Katz, The Associated Press Posted: 8:29 AM CDT Thursday, Apr. 25, 2019 Last Modified: 12:15 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 25, 2019

Advertise with us

LONDON - What would the founding fathers think? Almost 250 years after the United States launched a revolution to rid itself of the British royal family, the next royal baby could be an American.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

LONDON - What would the founding fathers think? Almost 250 years after the United States launched a revolution to rid itself of the British royal family, the next royal baby could be an American.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2019 (2670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON – What would the founding fathers think? Almost 250 years after the United States launched a revolution to rid itself of the British royal family, the next royal baby could be an American.

The idea that a scion of the former colonies would be seventh in line to succeed Queen Elizabeth II to the throne could change the royal family from within — and help extend a surge in popularity for the monarchy.

The child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — Meghan Markle became a duchess when she wed Prince Harry a year ago — is due very soon.

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle arrive at Nottingham Academy in Nottingham, England. The child of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will be seventh in the line of succession to the British throne, and also could be an American. The baby expected to arrive in the next few weeks would be the first citizen of Britain‚Äôs former colonies born into the upper echelons of the royal family. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

Baby Sussex, as the child is known ahead of its birth, will be a product of two cultures: its father a prince who is a symbol of Britain; its mother quintessentially American — a self-made TV star with a white father and an African American mother.

The child is unlikely to ever become king or queen, but the presence of a half-American child who may choose to hold dual nationality could shake up the royal family, just as the arrival of Meghan has had a modernizing effect on the stately but sometimes stodgy House of Windsor.

“It’s quite possible the child will have a lot of American influence,” royal commentator Hugo Vickers said. “The royal family is not totally unused to that kind of thing. Children have been born with Greek mothers or German mothers in the past, obviously, but Meghan is the first American mother so close in the royal family.”

Certainly, Meghan isn’t following any of the royal scripts when it comes to childbirth preparations.

Unlike Harry’s brother Prince William and his wife Kate, Harry and Meghan have chosen to keep the details about their baby planning private , despite — or perhaps because of — intense media interest in the baby’s arrival, expected in the next few weeks.

The couple haven’t revealed where Meghan intends to give birth, so there isn’t likely to be a 24/7 media stakeout outside the hospital as was the case for the births of William and Kate’s three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Don’t expect a photo of the happy family walking out of the hospital looking picture perfect hours after the birth either — Harry and Meghan have said they want to celebrate privately with their extended family before telling the world a baby has been born.

Palace officials accustomed to having a role in choreographing the coverage of major royal events are concerned that Harry and Meghan may announce the birth on their brand-new Instagram account — and give the public its first glimpse of the baby via Instagram as well.

Harry faces less pressure to conform to royal protocol than William because of William’s role as a likely future king: he will follow his 70-year-old father Prince Charles to the throne.

Britain's Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and Kate the Duchess of Cambridge, leave the Anzac Day Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, in London, Thursday April 25, 2019. Anzac Day has been commemorated in London since the first anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli in 1916, when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey and more than 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets. (Victoria Jones/Pool Photo via AP)

That also makes the baby’s American parentage less of a pressing issue, since it would take a series of tragedies to hit William’s children for Baby Sussex to become monarch.

That hasn’t kept the British media from speculating that Meghan will choose an American as a nanny — Mary Poppins be damned! — and possibly even put a man in that crucial role. Some believe Meghan will insist on dual citizenship for the child, a status that is allowed by both countries.

Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine, says many people have no issues with evolving traditions in the monarchy.

“Our royal family, like all the other European royal families, are no longer marrying within royal families, so this is inevitable, and many would say a good thing,” he said.

Read all Associated Press coverage of the latest royal baby at https://www.apnews.com/RoyalBaby