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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Both Plan on “Proper Time Off” After Their Baby’s Birth

Reportedly planning a home birth in Montecito, the Sussexes will take time to bond as a family of four. 

After scrapping plans for a home birth for baby Archie, Meghan Markle  and Prince Harry are now planning to deliver their second child, a girl, at their home in Montecito. Sources have also told Vanity Fair that the Sussexes both plan to take leave following the birth, so that they can spend proper time together as a family. 

Page Six first reported the new plans for a home birth, with a source saying of Meghan, “She has a beautiful home in California, it’s a beautiful setting to give birth to her baby girl.” Before Archie’s birth in 2019, there were plans in place for a birthing pool at Meghan and Harry’s home at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. But when the baby was a week overdue, they scrapped the plan in favor of a safer hospital birth; Archie was born at London’s Portland Hospital on May 6. It is understood that Meghan’s labor with Archie was fairly straightforward, which means there should be no issue with planning a home birth for their daughter. 

Meghan’s representatives did not comment on Page Six report, but sources close to the couple confirmed that they plan to take both paternity and maternity leave when their little girl arrives. “They will both take some proper time off,” a friend said. “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.”

When Archie was born, Harry’s paternity leave was cut short just days after the birth when he flew to the Netherlands for a work commitment, while Meghan was hard at work during her pregnancy and after Archie’s birth, editing an issue of British Vogue and designing a capsule collection for Smart Works.

The new Sussex baby, whom Harry and Meghan have said will be their last, will become eighth in line to the throne, after Prince Charles, Prince William, William’s three children George, Charlotte, and Louis, Prince Harry, and Archie. Meghan and Harry’s daughter will also be the first royal baby born in America— which means, in theory, she could even be eligible to be president someday. 

The timing of the baby’s arrival, who is due in the summer, could affect whether Harry is back in the UK for the unveiling of the Diana statue in July at Kensington Palace. Sources close to Harry say he is determined to be by his brother’s side for the occasion, but that it will depend on when their daughter is born and Covid travel restrictions.

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