Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, have announced the arrival of their first child, a healthy baby boy weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces and born early Monday morning.
This is the first child for the pair, who were married last May, and the new arrival is now seventh in line for the British throne, behind his father. The Daily Mail reports that the baby currently holds the title of the Earl of Dumbarton. Additional titles — including a possible “HRH” or, “His Royal Highness” — could be bestowed by Queen Elizabeth at a later date.
Prince Harry appeared alone on television early Monday morning to discuss the birth, telling reporters that his newborn son “is absolutely to-die-for.” The little boy does not yet have a name, Prince Harry admitted, but the parents are working hard on coming up with one, and they’ve had extra time to think about it, he joked to reporters, because the baby was a “little bit overdue.”
Otherwise, the prince called the birth “the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined.”
“Mother and baby are doing incredibly well. It’s been amazing, so we just wanted to share this with everybody,” he added. “How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension, but we’re both absolutely thrilled and so grateful to all the love and support from everybody out there.”
The Duke and Duchess skipped some of the traditional trappings of royal birth, opting not to have the Duchess use the Queen’s royal obstetricians, and choosing to deliver the baby at their home, Frogmore Cottage, rather than the famed “Lindo Wing,” where both Harry, his brother, Prince William, and Prince William’s children were born.
The pair also opted not to have the traditional photo call for international press following the birth of the child, and Prince Harry noted this morning that, instead, they “will be seeing you guys in probably two days’ time as planned as a family,” to introduce the new baby to the world. A separate photo call has been set up with just one photographer, one reporter, and a palace aide to keep the baby’s first public appearance as private as possible.
Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth, released the first announcement — that the Duchess of Sussex was in labor — in line with tradition, very early Monday morning, and was the first to announce Baby Sussex’s birth. The Palace’s latest statement says that mother and baby are “both doing well” and that members of the royal household, including the Queen and her husband Prince Phillip, Baby Sussex’s grandfather Prince Charles and his wife Camilla (the Duchess of Cornwall), and Prince Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his family, are all “delighted” with the news of the new arrival.
Baby Sussex, the Earl of Dumbarton, isn’t likely to ascend to the British throne, being seventh in line, and will likely be known by his first name and the surname, “Sussex.” He also won’t likely be given the title of “prince” until Harry’s father, Prince Charles, ascends to the throne (if at all).
The new baby may also spend the first few years of his life outside of the United Kingdom. Rumor has it that Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in the first stages of planning an extended assignment abroad for the family: three years in Africa, where they will work to improve the relationship between the British Crown and the remaining nations in the British Commonwealth.