Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
MEGHAN DETERMINED TO GO HER OWN WAY
STILL, less than a year since she married into the Royal Family, yet we have come to expect the unexpected from the Duchess of Sussex. So the revelation that she is considering a home birth for her first child should surely not be a surprise.
What is clear, however, is that it is a further and highly significant step in showing Meghan’s insistence on doing things her own way at the expense of convention, never mind royal tradition.
It is decades since a royal mother last gave birth at home rather than in hospital. But let’s be absolutely clear: if Meghan does go ahead and give birth at home later this month, this will be unlike any normal home birth.
She will be attended by a full complement of medical experts, and a helicopter will be on standby to whisk her to hospital should an emergency develop. Frogmore Cottage, her and Harry’s newlyrenovated home on the Windsor estate, will be prepared for every eventuality.
It should be pointed out that though Meghan is keen to have a home birth and follow in the footsteps of the Queen, who gave birth to all her four children at either Buckingham Palace or Clarence House, no final decision has been taken.
According to insiders, when that decision is taken, it will be a medical one. “The duchess will accept what is best for both, especially her unborn child,” said a source. Nevertheless, the fact that she is even considering a home birth demonstrates yet again how the American-born duchess feels able to challenge accepted royal norms.
In many ways her reluctance to follow the example of her sisterin-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to all three of her children at the private Lindo wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, is commendable.
Kate merely followed the example of Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana, whose sons were both born at the Lindo. Diana followed the lead of Princess Anne, the mother of the Queen’s eldest grandchildren, Peter and Zara, who were also born at St Mary’s.
Ruling out the Lindo was Meghan’s first decision. The move to Windsor and the fact that their new home was ready before the due birth date was an enormous help.
But the matter was settled when, just weeks before last May’s wedding, Meghan watched on television the circus surrounding the birth of Kate’s youngest child, Prince
Louis with photographers and TV crews recording all the comings and goings. I understand she had misgivings about the public nature of the event.
She also had considerable sympathy for her fiancée’s sister-inlaw, who within hours of the birth, was posing with William and their infant on the hospital’s steps.
She, of course, could not know that in under a year she too would be nearing the date for the delivery of her first child, but it did help make up her mind. Her main wish throughout the pregnancy has been that the birth should be as private as possible, that it should be a moment above all for her and Harry and not one that had to be shared with the world.
Harry, who shares her thirst for privacy, is understood to be fully behind the idea of a home birth, but like any soon-to-be father, is anxious. Unlike his grandfather, Prince Philip, who was playing squash when Charles was born, Harry is certain to be on hand.
Theirs is a modern, equal partnership between a proud feminist who is determined to make her voice heard and a man who appreciates that power rather than feels diminished by it.
The couple have been hugely helped in that, unlike Kate, Meghan has breezed through her pregnancy without, as far as we know, any complications. Certainly she was not admitted to hospital as Kate was in the early stages of her first pregnancy with Prince George with an extreme form of morning sickness which also affected her subsequent pregnancies. Thanks to her daily exercise and yoga routines she is also extremely fit. Harry and Kate have also been helped by royal genealogy. Their child will be seventh in line of succession and may not even be styled an HRH if they follow both Prince Edward and Princess Anne who wanted less of a spotlight on their children.
Everything we have learnt since the pregnancy was announced indicates that Meghan will be a thoroughly modern mother, not hidebound by the traditions of her husband’s family. |
Her main wish throughout the pregnancy has been that the birth should be as private as possible.