When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married each other on May 19, of last year, she became the first American biracial royal in the family. Almost a year later, as the pair are set to welcome their first child, the royal baby will continue their history-changing legacy and change several things. Read on to learn how Baby Sussex will make history!
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The baby will be biracial
Source: Getty Images
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, spoke about what it is like to grow up biracial. Her mother Doria Ragland is black, while her father Thomas Markle is white. Because of this, Meghan’s baby will be the first biracial royal who will be in the line to the British throne, at seventh in fact. However, she will be the first modern royal to achieve this, as Queen Charlotte was believed to be of mixed race and had 15 children during the 1800s.
Dr. Sarah E. Gaither, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Duke University runs the Duke Identity and Diversity Lab. She had this to say on the matter: “To the biracial community, she’s really serving as a symbol of this changing demographic that Britain is facing in addition to the United States.”
Meghan is very proud about her mixed heritage, so she will surely pass this down to her child. She wrote this for Elle back in 2015:
Source: Us Weekly
“To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman. That when asked to choose my ethnicity in a questionnaire as in my seventh grade class, or these days to check ‘Other,’ I simply say: ‘Sorry, world, this is not “Lost” and I am not one of The Others. I am enough exactly as I am.’ “
Tessy Ojo, the chief executive of the Diana Award, was one of the guests at the royal wedding, and she told this to PEOPLE:
“It is so beautiful at every level. We all can’t wait to see what the baby will be and what the baby will look like, what this beautiful gorgeous bundle will look like.”
The baby will be eligible for American citizenship
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There were questions raised about the citizenship of Meghan ahead of the wedding, but the palace said that she would become a British citizen soon. However, it is now unknown if she will give up her American citizenship, or be a dual citizen. In either case, her baby will be the first British royal to have USA citizenship.
As the US Travel Department states, a baby born abroad to an American citizen and an alien who are married, will receive the US citizenship at birth if the US citizen parent was “physically present in the U.S. or one of its outlying possessions for five years prior to the person’s birth, at least two of which were after the age of fourteen.”
The baby might not have a royal title
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Baby Sussex will be the seventh in the line of succession, which does not mean a prince or princess title.
If the pair have a baby, he could be the Earl of Dumbarton, which is the secondary Sussex title, before he gets the dukedom.
Potential younger son may be Lord (His Name) Windsor. A daughter would be Lady (Her Name) Windsor. As only a male heir inherits a dukedom, the title will cease to exist if they do not have any sons.
In addition, Queen Elizabeth could give the child a title similar to their cousins, as the three children of Prince William and Kate Middleton are princes and a princess.
Lastly, the couple can choose to skip a title, exactly like Princess Anne did with young Peter and Zara.
The baby will grow up in Frogmore Cottage
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The royal pair announced this past November that they plan no leave Kensington Palace and live on their own at the Frogmore Cottage, right next to Frogmore House, where they held their wedding reception. No royals lived there for years, and it had to undergo some major renovations to become a five-unit home for the family. Earlier this month, Harry and Meghan, along with the staff, moved in. The only thing left is for the baby to arrive too!
The baby had an American-style baby shower
Source: Hello Magazine
Baby showers are an important part of American tradition, so the friends of the future mom wished to throw her an epic baby shower in New York.
This happened in the middle of February at The Mark Hotel, and the attendees of this lovely two-day celebration included Meghan’s colleagues and co-stars like Abigail Spencer, as well as close friends Jessica Mulroney, Serena Williams, and Misha Nonoo.
These were not all of the celebrations, as since then, the fans of the pair are in full support of the virtual “baby shower.” Charities that Meghan and Harry support received numerous donations after a fundraising effort took place.
A Twitter user @freepeeper started #GlobalSussexBabyShower, and it began trending and receiving support by many people. Camfed, the Mayhew and WellChild are the first charities to get donations. Since then, organizations like Sentebale and One25 also enjoyed increased support.
Source: people.com
