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Archie Harrison is going to be a big brother! Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting their second child. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed the news on Valentine’s Day. “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
The Duke and Duchess, who reside in Montecito, California, announced the exciting news with a black-and-white photo of Meghan laying in the grass, cradling her growing baby bump, while Harry lovingly gazed at his wife. The image was taken remotely on an iPad by the pair’s friend and photographer Misan Harriman.
© Misan HarrimanAccording to HOLA! USA’s sister brand HELLO!, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Kate Middleton and the Duchess of Sussex’s mother Doria Ragland were informed of Meghan’s pregnancy before the Sussexes’ announcement.
The Duke and Duchess’ baby news comes less than a year after Meghan suffered a miscarriage. In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Meghan recalled feeling a “sharp cramp” after changing her son’s diaper last July. “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. “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.”
Meghan added, “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.”
© Getty ImagesThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who wed in 2018, welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, ahead of their first wedding anniversary in 2019. Not long after the birth of their son, Harry revealed that he wanted to give Archie a sibling. During a conversation with Dr. Jane Goodall for British Vogue’s 2019 September issue, which was guest-edited by Meghan, Harry admitted that he would like to have two kids “maximum.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior members of the royal family last year “to live a more independent life as a family.” Prior to their royal exit, Meghan opened up about her struggles as a new mother in the spotlight. “Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot,” she confessed in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. “So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed. It’s um, yeah. I guess, also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
