--- title: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Keep Their Birth Plan Private description: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will keep the royal baby's birth plan private, they announced through Buckingham Palace. canonical: https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-11T12:43:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:36.293Z og:title: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Keeping the Birth of Their Royal Baby Private og:description: They'll celebrate as a family first og:url: https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d33b031e63376c6/698948167cdbac67d5d5f541/prince-harry-meghan-markle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Commonwealth Day 2019 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Keeping the Birth of Their Royal Baby Private twitter:description: They'll celebrate as a family first twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d33b031e63376c6/698948167cdbac67d5d5f541/prince-harry-meghan-markle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Keeping the Birth of Their Royal Baby Private  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 11, 2019 12:43 PM UTC  Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 11, 2019 in London. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 11, 2019 in London.Samir Hussein—Samir Hussein/WireImage  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 11, 2019 12:43 PM UTC Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s first child is [due in just weeks](http://time.com/5502228/meghan-markle-baby-due-date/) — but the public will have to wait a little longer than that to catch a glimpse of the [royal baby](http://time.com/5445288/meghan-markle-baby-news/). The prince and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced via Buckingham Palace Thursday that they will keep their birth plan private, and will publicly reveal details of the birth only after they’ve celebrated together. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby,” the statement reads. “Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family.” That means Markle, in a break from recent royal tradition, will not pose for photos after delivery, and will instead host a “photo call” at Windsor Castle a few days after the birth, [_People_ reports](https://people.com/royals/meghan-markle-prince-harry-royal-baby-birth-plan-details/). When sister-in-law Kate Middleton gave birth to her three children with Prince William, she [made headlines](http://time.com/5178537/kate-middleton-leaves-hospital-royal-baby-3/) for posing for photographers just hours later. Markle and Prince Harry could also break from tradition a bit [when they name their baby](http://time.com/5562700/meghan-markle-baby-name-options/), according to royals experts, since the child will be the [seventh heir to the throne](http://time.com/5424509/prince-harry-meghan-markle-baby-line-succession-throne/). According to _People_, Markle is also unlikely to give birth at the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital, as Middleton did, and will likely give birth at the couple’s Frogmore Cottage or a nearby hospital. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/"},"headline":"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Keeping the Birth of Their Royal Baby Private","datePublished":"2019-04-11T12:43:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:36.293Z","description":"They'll celebrate as a family first","url":"https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/","keywords":["Newsfeed","royals","United Kingdom","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d33b031e63376c6/698948167cdbac67d5d5f541/prince-harry-meghan-markle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d33b031e63376c6/698948167cdbac67d5d5f541/prince-harry-meghan-markle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Commonwealth Day 2019","caption":"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle","creditText":"Samir Hussein—Samir Hussein/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5568479/meghan-markle-private-birth-plan/","name":"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Keeping the Birth of Their Royal Baby Private"}}]}] ```