According to Vanity Fair, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to take maternity and paternity leave following the arrival of their second child, a little sister for Archie.
“It will be the summer and they want to make sure they both take their leave so they have some real quality time together once the baby arrives,” a source tells reporter Katie Nicholl.
This is the second report to emerge this week concerning the Sussexes’ plans for the new addition to their family.
Page Six has claimed the couple were hoping to welcome their daughter at home in Montecito, California, having been unable to do so when Archie was born in 2019.
A source told the publication that during her first pregnancy, Meghan had hoped for a home birth at Frogmore Cottage with an all-female midwife team
However, with the baby overdue it didn’t play out that way, and the Sussexes’ son was instead delivered at the Portland Hospital in London on May 6, 2019.
For Archie’s birth, the duchess took maternity leave from March to September 2019, though she made public appearances and worked on projects, including her guest-edit of British Vogue, in that time.
It was reported at the time that Harry didn’t take paternity leave, but according to Nicholl, it was cut short.
“In the end, her doctors advised her to go to hospital and all she was interested in was about delivering Archie safely,” the source said.
It has recently emerged that the duke has secured a job with BetterUp, a tech start-up providing coaching and mental health services to clients, as its Chief Impact Officer.
He has also joined the Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder, which will examine the societal impacts of misinformation
Regardless of how she is delivered, the second baby Sussex will be the first member of the British royal family to be born in the US.
Meghan’s experience of pregnancy this time around has been markedly different to her first, as a result of the Sussexes’ resignation as senior working royals in 2020.
As 9Honey’s royal commentator Victoria Arbiter points out, the couple now have control over the parts of their life they choose to share with the public, and how they go about it.
“They’ll no longer have to respond to demands for information pertaining to the baby,” Arbiter explains.
“They won’t be expected to pose for photographs on leaving the hospital. They won’t be expected to share a first photo until they’re ready.”
Harry and Meghan’s newfound control over their public image was clear when they shared their baby news on Valentine’s Day.
The couple released a portrait, captured at home by their friend Misan Harriman, and a short statement via a spokesperson.
“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,” it read.
This time, there was no official royal statement heralding the pregnancy, though the palace responded to the news by saying the royal family was ‘delighted’.
The Sussexes later opted to reveal the baby’s sex during their Oprah interview, sharing their joy at expecting a daughter.