The rumors of another Markle pregnancy began to spread almost immediately after the Duchess of Sussex had her son, Archie. In October of last year, Woman’s Day claimed Markle was about three months pregnant with her second child, which meant she would likely deliver some time around Archie’s first birthday.
“Meghan could not stop touching her stomach,” a so-called “onlooker” told the outlet. That dubious witness account, as well as Markle’s recent visit to a Woman’s Wellness clinic, served as the magazine’s only proof of a pregnancy.
The pregnancy rumors continued to spread, with OK! reporting in December that Markle was four months pregnant with her second child, which the outlet claimed was a girl. The magazine maintained that Markle looked “bumpy” during an appearance at a royal event, with an insider adding that the duchess had a “pregnancy glow” and was “holding her belly” like she had during her first pregnancy.
Despite those vague descriptions, the insider insisted they knew intimate details about Markle’s supposed pregnancy, including the gender of the baby. “She’s about four months pregnant, and it’s a girl!” the source squealed, adding, “The first people who they told were Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, who were both thrilled.
Prince William and Duchess Kate were next, and they were just as happy.” Of course the outlet and its almost certainly made-up source got the story completely wrong. Markle was not pregnant at the time, since she obviously would have had the baby by now.
As 2020 rolled around, even more rumors about Markle’s second pregnancy came to light. New Idea insisted that Markle was secretly pregnant and planned to shock the royal family with the news. The outlet claimed that Prince Harry and Markle had been “bunkered down” in their home and rarely ventured out in order to keep the news of a new baby strictly under wraps.
Markle apparently wanted to let the world know on her own, without following royal protocol that dictated that she and Prince Harry must tell the queen of a pregnancy before telling anyone else.
A source added that Markle “knows exactly how that will look, having the queen and two future kings finding out about it at the same time as an ordinary person, and that’s exactly how she likes it.” This would be the “ultimate message,” the source continued, to let the royals know the Sussexes were “very much outside of its rules and regulations.” This act of rebellion “is breaking Charles’ heart, in particular,” the insider added out of nowhere.
How could Prince Charles’ heart be breaking if he didn’t know about the alleged pregnancy in the first place? It comes as no surprise that yet another tabloid’s prediction went so far off the mark. There was never any need for the royal family to take offense at a secret pregnancy, since Markle wasn’t pregnant to begin with.
Prince Harry and Markle weren’t laying low because they were hiding a pregnancy, they were likely not going out because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, not to mention the drones and swarms of paparazzi that had been plaguing their neighborhood.
In July, Life & Style declared that Meghan Markle was “officially” pregnant. “There are whispers that Meghan is expecting,” a so-called “source” told the tabloid, “and that’s one reason she hasn’t been seen out much lately.” The spread of COVID-19 in California in particular was, of course, not mentioned in the piece as a reason why Markle would eschew going out.
The source added that “privately, she’s said to have told a few close pals” about the alleged pregnancy. It’s a common tactic used by tabloids to shield themselves from lawsuits in case the often faulty information they peddle turns out to be false. Markle wasn’t actually pregnant this time, either.
Kate Middleton is sometimes thrown into the drama, like when Woman’s Day reported that Meghan Markle was spitefully keeping her royal sister-in-law away from not only Archie, but Markle’s unborn child as well. The cover story came with the blazing headline, “Pregnant Markle’s Revenge!”
According to suspect sources who spoke with the publication, “Kate loves children and regardless of the bad blood between her and Meghan, she would forgive it all in a heartbeat if she got to spend more time with darling Archie and this apparent new niece or nephew.”
