They took the whole world by surprise. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have just announced that Archie, their son, is going to become an older brother. A future birth to soothe the pains of the past… but to dig a little deeper into the rift with the Crown and its loyal subjects.
Symbolic act or – sublime? On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, a bucolic black and white photo of peaceful Sussex, under a tree, is published, reminiscent of a scene from the film Love at first sight in Notting Hill… Prince Harry, 36 years old, caresses the head of his wife Meghan Markle, 39 years old, lying next to him, her hand on his rounded belly. Social networks and the press around the world are getting excited: Baby Sussex number 2 is on its way! A news that always brings hope, joy and uniqueness that comes at just the right time, after a hectic, even gloomy 2020 for Sussex. 2021 will be the year of success and happiness. It will also be the year of revenge.
Meghan has just won her case against The Mail on Sunday, which had published her famous intimate letter to her father. She thus avoids a trial with a tendency towards grand unpacking where her father Thomas Markle could have come to testify. Meghan was delighted by this decision, denouncing the “illegal and dehumanizing practices” of the tabloids. This pregnancy comes at just the right time and nails the beak to her half-sister Samantha who has just released The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: Part 1. A non-event for the Duchess of Sussex who, according to a relative, “would hardly have noticed it,” reports the American magazine Vanity Fair on February 4. Enough to erase in one fell swoop, the bad buzz that the couple from Sussex is getting and to focus all the attention on their unborn baby. To the family past, already so heavy…
It’s the baby of love. The couple, who have communication at their fingertips – they hired Christine Schirmer and Toya Holness, respectively head of communication and press attaché for the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on November 13 – chose the right moment to announce the happy event. There is no better day than Valentine’s Day, the feast of lovers, to share their newfound happiness. Proof if any were needed that, despite the storms that have raged since their leave from the Firm in March 2020, the couple has grown in maturity, has found its cruising speed on Californian soil to welcome a new member to their family.
At a time of resilience. In a long column, published last November in the New York Times, entitled Our Common Losses, the Duchess of Sussex confessed to having had a miscarriage in July 2020 while taking care of her one-year-old little Archie. A drama she wished to share. “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by so many women but verbalized by so few of them,” then lamented the wife of Prince Harry. In this shocking testimony, she confided: “I tried to imagine how we could heal from this. “Through these words, the Duchess of Sussex wants to see a first step towards healing. The occurrence of this pregnancy and the happiness of welcoming this little being will never take away the pain of loss, but will soften the cruel bite.
The baby in his forties. Meghan will turn 40 on August 4th. Time passes and so does the biological clock. At this age, a woman has only a 10% chance of getting pregnant, three times less than at 25. These late pregnancies are therefore more closely monitored. They also cause more fatigue. Meghan knows this. So she has not hesitated to enlarge the clan she forms with Prince Harry. It will certainly be the last child of the couple who does not wish a large family. Indeed, the prince confided in an interview with the English anthropologist and ethnologist Jane Goodall that he wanted to limit himself to two children, “maximum! “for ecological reasons. Wish granted.
Mountbatten-Windsor, quite simply. Or almost! The second child of Meghan and Harry will be named Mountbatten-Windsor, and, like his older brother Archie, will not have a title, reports the Daily Mail. Indeed, the eldest son of Sussex could have been called Earl of Dumbarton or become Lord Archie Mounbatten-Windsor. But in accordance with the wishes of his parents, who broke with royal conventions, he calls himself Mountbatten-Windsor. According to the rules established more than one hundred years ago by George V, the unborn child who will have dual nationality cannot bear the title of Royal Highness or be a prince or princess, rules that could change when the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne. But it is unlikely that Harry and Meghan would opt for such a change, notes the British newspaper.
The eldest of the siblings is Archie. The only son and ultra-protected, the toddler who will celebrate his 2 years in May is propelled to the front line. Almost two years will separate him from his little brother or sister, the same age difference as between Prince William and Prince Harry. A synchronicity that will surely echo in the two brothers and remind them of the formidable relationship that bound them before Harry decided to upset the family order: one coldheaded, “called” by his destiny as heir to the Crown, the other, troublemaker and hotheaded, protected by his elder brother.
The homage to Diana. Diana, the absent one always so present… The announcement of Meghan’s second pregnancy comes thirty-seven years to the day after the announcement of Lady Di’s second pregnancy on February 14, 1984. What a symbol! The British press has moreover brought out the clichés of the time and one rediscovers a Lady Di, so young, so happy, pregnant with her second son, Prince Harry. It was then the baby of love. Diana and Prince Charles, after so many storms and misunderstandings, had finally found each other… Harry cannot forget it.
This year is also very special for the sons of Prince Charles since Diana would have been 60 years old on July 1st. This day, the two brothers should normally see each other again (they have not seen each other since March 2020), to attend the inauguration of the statue of Diana, at Sunken Garden, in the gardens of the palace of Kensington. In 2017, the princes had commissioned a commemorative sculpture in honor of their mother to “recognize her positive impact in the United Kingdom and the world,” according to the Duke of Cambridge’s statement. Perhaps the opportunity to finally see the Cambridge and Sussex united at last… Who knows.
The first descendant of Elizabeth II not to be born on British soil
Will this birth mark the definitive break with the Windsor team? This is the question everyone is asking. The birth, which should probably take place in late spring or early summer, will certainly take place in California, USA. Indeed, it is hard to imagine the Sussex returning to the United Kingdom in the coming months, as the pandemic does not make travel easier… The couple’s second child, now eighth in the ascension to the throne, will be the first direct descendant of Queen Elizabeth II not to make his first cry on British soil. Never before seen. By doing so, the Sussex show their intention: to lead their way away from the royal family. To live freely outside the customs of the Court. From now on, they want to be independent, masters of their own choices.
Financially, with the successive signing of contracts with Netflix and Spotify for content focused on their lives, passions and charitable commitments, they have become one of the firm’s wealthiest couples, with amounts totalling around €200 million. Who can say better? The British, for their part, are likely to take it badly: they will be deprived of this pregnancy which could have boosted their morale, so badly damaged by the Covid-19 crisis. Moreover, the presence of Sussex for the Queen’s 95th birthday on April 21 and Prince Philip’s 100th birthday on June 10 is highly unlikely. The same goes for Trooping the Colour… So many events that strengthen Windsor’s ties with the English but in which Sussex will not participate. But Hollywood, paradise of glamour, is reaching out to them. And that, in the end, is priceless.
Photo credits : Backgrid UK/ Bestimage