Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s second child will be entitled to American citizenship as an automatic right if born in the US, it has been revealed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also be able to apply for dual citizenship, with the baby automatically becoming a British citizen through Harry’s nationality.
Harry, Meghan and Archie left Britain for Canada in November 2019, meaning their first child Archie, who now speaks with a North American twang, has not seen any of his British relatives since he was six months old.
The family have since moved to California, where they have bought an £11 million mansion in Montecito and signed multi-million pound deals with Netflix and Spotify.
The Duke is expected to return to the UK this summer to see his family for the first time since the couple decided to leave Britain and step down from their roles in the Royal Family in what was dubbed ‘Megxit’.
Meghan was already said to be unlikely to join him for ‘personal and practical’ reasons, sources said, so it remains unclear when the new baby will meet his grandfather Charles or his great-grandmother the Queen.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a photograph yesterday which showed them beaming with delight following the announcement they are expecting a second baby
The new Sussex baby will become eighth in line to the throne, after Prince Charles, Prince William, William’s three children George, Charlotte and Louis, Prince Harry and his eldest child 21-month-old Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
Harry retained his place in the line of succession despite his decision to quit royal life.
They announced last night on Valentine’s Day that they are expecting their second child – and said they were ‘overjoyed’ at their pregnancy.
The couple are yet to reveal when the baby is expected.
The baby will be a younger brother or sister to the couple’s elder child Archie, who will be two in May.
As any child born in the States, the baby will be entitled to US citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
He or she will also be automatically entitled to UK citizenship because father Harry is British.
To celebrate the news yesterday, the couple released a black and white photograph which showed them beaming with delight.
Meghan lay with her head in her husband’s lap, her hand resting on her visible baby bump.
Barefoot Harry cradled her head in his hand as the couple relaxed together under a tree on a sprawling sunlit lawn.
The picture was shot by photographer Misan Harriman, a friend of the duke and duchess. It was believed to have been taken in Montecito.
A spokesman for the couple said: ‘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.’
The announcement comes after Meghan, 39, suffered a heart-breaking miscarriage last year.
Mr Harriman said being asked to take the photograph felt especially poignant after the duchess’s miscarriage.
He said: ‘To be asked to help share this absolute joy after such an unimaginable loss and heartache is a marker of true friendship.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen with Archie in Cape Town on September 25, 2019
‘Meg reminded me that had I not introduced her to a mutual friend then she wouldn’t have met Harry. I’m grateful for whatever small part I played.’
It comes almost exactly 37 years after Princess Diana was confirmed to be pregnant with her second child – Prince Harry.
Buckingham Palace made that announcement on February 13, 1984.
Harry and Meghan chose to put out a statement themselves yesterday, in keeping with their decision to move away from their traditional roles within the Royal Family.
The couple have been hunkering down at a sprawling nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito that they purchased for $14.65million last June (pictured)
Buckingham Palace said that Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and ‘the entire family’ were ‘delighted’.
Bookmakers immediately began offering odds for royal names last night, with Alfie and Alexandra emerging as early favourites.
The names Alfie and Alexandra are the favourites with one bookmaker to be picked by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their second child.
Ladbrokes has Alfie and Alexandra as frontrunners, both with odds of 4-1, and the betting on the baby’s sex has seen both a boy and girl priced at 10-11.