COUNTDOWN

Royal Baby: Even Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Calling It ‘Baby Sussex’

Meghan and Harry adopt their fans’ name for their new baby, plus more clues emerge about the baby’s due date, and The New York Times wades into the hospital steps debate.

Welcome to this special Royal Baby edition of The Royalist—all the latest royal baby news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman. For Beast Inside members only.

Hail Baby Sussex!

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have adopted their fans’ name for their unborn-at-time-of-writing child, Baby Sussex. They used the name in a heartfelt Instagram post thanking their fans for supporting various organizations around the world in lieu of sending gifts.

The post said: “Their Royal Highnesses wanted you to know the impact of your support – the direct effect your donation, energy, and action made! YOU chose to be part of the collective good, and you have a made a real difference. Whether a $5 donation, £1000 contribution, offering to volunteer, or spreading the word – you’ve played your part. And on behalf of The Duke and Duchess (and Baby Sussex), we thank you so much.”

Baby Sussex. Cute.

BOUNCING BABY

Harry and Meghan Are Going to Have Their Baby Their Way

Tom Sykes

Dateline

In when-will-the-baby-be-born news, we now have some outer limit hints: Prince Charles has announced that he will travel to Germany with Camilla on May 7 for a three-day work trip, so she must surely be expected to give birth before then. And Meghan Markle’s American makeup artist, Daniel Martin, posted on Instagram that he would be back in the Big Apple by May 5. Odds with bookmakers are narrowing for April 21, the Queen’s birthday, an auspicious date previously tipped right here.

Steps or No Steps

When The New York Times gets involved in the drama over who sees Harry and Meghan’s baby and when, Buckingham Palace must really put its head in its hands.

Under the headline “Scorned British Tabloids to Meghan and Harry: Show Us Your Baby!” the paper thoroughly summarized the drama flowing from the Sussexes' decision not to pose with their child on the steps of any hospital.

Instead, the couple will release their own images, most likely on Instagram.

The response from the British press seems to be thus: How dare they deny us this traditional photo opportunity; our taxes pay for them, this photo opportunity is part of the quid pro quo; and also, erm, tradition, which Brits get very selectively exercised about.

Apparently, the British tradition of seeing a woman holding a baby mere hours after giving birth on some steps is one some journalists feel very strongly about upholding.

Others might argue it’s a weird expectation to place on any woman who has just given birth, and freeing royal women from having to stands on some hospital steps holding their newborn mere hours after giving birth is in fact very freeing.

Arthur Edwards, The Sun’s veteran royal photographer, recalled photographing Harry in Diana’s arms and said the prince was becoming “morose.”

The piece also touched on some of the scorn that the Harry’s wellness TV show collaboration with Oprah Winfrey has aroused.

Meghan ‘Writes Insta Posts’

England and America are two countries divided by a common language, the old joke goes, and the subtle differences between British and American diction and syntax have been seized on by some royal stans to claim that Meghan is personally writing the Sussex Instagram.  

The SussexRoyal Instagram feed recently referenced “diapers” (we call them nappies) and spelled some words the American way. Oh, and one of the charities benefiting from baby-driven donations is baby2baby, based in Meghan’s hometown of Los Angeles.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

Tim TeemanSenior Editor and Writer

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