For months, Meghan Markle and her ever-growing baby bump have been a regular fixture on the leafy, bougainvillea-lined streets of Montecito.
WATCH: Harry and Meghan announce that the’re having a daughter to Oprah
Neighbours would frequently see the pregnant duchess walking her dog, Pula, often with her two-year-old son Archie toddling alongside.
Over the past couple of weeks, no-one has seen Meghan, with neighbours exclusively telling New Idea they believe she and her husband, Prince Harry, have secretly welcomed their baby girl!
“It’s so exciting. Harry is also laying low… there’s been no sign of him going on his bike rides or going down to the beach with Pula,” reveals the insider. “Everyone is assuming he’s by Meghan’s side being a doting dad.”
This comes after multiple sources tell New Idea the Duke of Sussex hinted that Meghan’s due date was a lot earlier than thought when he returned to the UK for his grandfather Prince Phillip’s funeral last month. And on April 21, Meghan looked ready to pop while dropping Archie off at nursery school.
“They were happy for everyone to assume she was due in June,” says one insider.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, was a no-show at the taping of the Global Citizen VAX LIVE concert in LA on May 2, despite promising to front the charity gig with Harry. At press time, New Idea understood she was due to make a pre-filmed appearance for when the concert aired over the weekend.
No-one would be surprised if Harry, 36, and Meghan had already welcomed their daughter without making an announcement, given the former actress has spent most of her pregnancy keeping it a secret. The couple didn’t even confirm the happy news until Valentine’s Day, when Meghan was already quite far along.
It has also been reported that Meghan wanted to have a home birth this time, making a secret delivery even more possible.
What’s more, when Archie was born in 2019, Meghan and Harry bizarrely sent out a press release claiming that Meghan was in labour, when in fact she had already given birth several hours earlier.
“The Sussexes consider themselves extremely private and feel it’s no-one’s business but theirs when their baby arrives,” says a second source. “They’ll probably enjoy keeping it just between them and their closest friends for as long as possible.
“I doubt they’d even go out of their way to tell the royal family straight away to be honest, given the way things are right now.”
Read this and more in the latest issue of New Idea, out now!
