It's a boy! Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcome first child
The Duchess of Sussex gives birth to a baby boy in Windsor.
Nick Bullen isn’t surprised that Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry haven’t immediately revealed their newborn to the world just as Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge have with their three children.
The former American actress and the British royal welcomed a bouncing baby boy early Monday morning.
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"We are pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their firstborn child in the early morning on May 6th, 2019. Their Royal Highnesses’ son weighs 7lbs. 3oz.," the couple announced via Instagram.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have received hundreds of gifts. (Getty Images)
"The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives.”
“More details will be shared in the forthcoming days," the statement said.
The royal bundle of joy, born at 5:26 a.m., is seventh in line for the British throne and is Queen Elizabeth II's eighth great-grandchild. Harry is the younger son of Prince Charles, the next in line to the throne, and the late Princess Diana.
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A rep from Kensington Palace told Fox News it will be up to the couple to decide when the baby’s name or his first official photo will be released to the public.
“I think the protection level will be off the clock,” the royal filmmaker told Fox News. “If you look at the way William and Kate have been so protective of their children, the British press particularly have kept a reasonable distance from George, Charlotte and Louis. I think Harry will be even more protective. I think the really telling piece is that they didn’t pose on the steps of the hospital. He’s making a statement from day one — he’s saying, ‘This baby is ours, this is private and this baby will be shown to you on our terms.'”
Bullen is an executive producer who has been making programs about the British royal family for nearly 20 years and has worked closely with Harry and William’s father, Prince Charles, for eight. Bullen has recently released two new films on True Royalty TV titled "Meghan Markle: Inside the Wardrobe of a Princess" and "Meghan Markle: Inside the Home of a Princess," documenting how the former "Suits" star has made her mark since officially becoming a member of the British royal family.
Bullen noted that after the couple welcomed their son, Markle, 37, did not pose for photos just hours after delivering the baby. Instead, Harry, 34, told the press that they’d scheduled a debut for their child two days after their birth. Sources previously indicated that the practice of putting on a show just after birth wasn’t the Duchess of Sussex’s cup of tea.
Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex smile during a visit to Tupou College in Tonga, Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are on day eleven of their 16-day tour of Australia and the South Pacific.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, pool) (ap)
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While it’s usually tradition, Bullen said Harry was determined to fulfill his wife’s wishes of not putting on a post-labor parade for the press.
“Harry is madly in love with Meghan,” he explained. “She’s incredibly beautiful, she’s incredibly clever and she’s incredibly worldly. And I think Harry is absolutely swept off his feet. He wants to make sure that she is protected in a way that his mother wasn’t protected. And I don’t just mean with the press. But also within the palace. Diana and even Duchess of York Fergie, they were basically cast adrift into the Windsors. They had to find their own way. And for large periods of time, they were on their own in trying to navigate their royal roles on their own. I think Harry’s view is, ‘That’s not going to happen with Meghan.”
According to Bullen, we can expect Harry, who has had a wary relationship with the British press after his mother passed away in 1997 at age 36, to become even more protective of mother and child.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly keeping the birth of Baby Sussex private. (Getty)
“Harry is going to look after Meghan, protect her,” explained Bullen. “If she wants things, if she needs things, he’s going to make it happen. Part of it is because he feels it just didn’t play out that way with Diana. But also, he is unsurprisingly madly in love with this woman. He wants to make sure that whatever she wants, she gets.”
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Bullen previously told Fox News that unlike her late mother-in-law, Markle isn’t overwhelmed by the growing media spectacle surrounding her life. In fact, she’s embracing it as part of her new role.
“My understanding from people who know her well and work with her, she’s handling it very well,” Bullen shared. “She knew what she was marrying into. This is not a girl who was unaware of the power of the press. I think unlike a 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer from all those years ago, who was overwhelmed with the attention, Meghan knew what she was getting into. I think it was possibly bigger than what she realized, but my understanding from people who knew her years ago and people who are working with her now, she’s handling it very well. In fact, she’s enjoying it. This is what she thrives on.”
Meghan Markle and Princess Diana (Getty)
Bullen said Markle has become so welcoming of the press because it allows her to promote her charities on a global scale. Since becoming an official member of the British royal family, the former “Suits” star has become a patron of four royal organizations, with of her roles taking over from Elizabeth.
In January of this year, Kensington Palace announced Markle will serve as the patron for the National Theatre, as well as the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Mayhew (animal welfare) and Smart Works, which empowers women and helps them find work.
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“I’m told she and Harry have got some big key messages that they want to get out there,” said Bullen. “And the only way to get them out there is using the world’s press to their attention. As much as Harry is pretty anti-press, I think Meghan is enjoying it and ready to harness it. She wants to use it to promote brand Sussex.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. (Getty)
Bullen shared that the one challenge Markle may face is for her husband to embrace the media as much as she has.
“Harry’s real beef is with the British press,” he explained. “He felt they treated his mother badly. He also believes the British press treated him badly while he was growing up as a teenager in the public eye. I think Harry will not particularly want to work with the British press, but he will work with the foreign press and in particular, the American press. It’s no surprise that his next big TV project is with Oprah Winfrey and Apple. I think you will see him more on the global stage, not so much the domestic stage.”
“I think Harry has to become more welcoming of the press,” Bullen continued. “Because you know what? It ain’t going away. He needs to work with it. I think Meghan will hopefully encourage him in that direction… I think they will start working much more with the international press. They will definitely use social media in a much bigger way.”
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