Harry and Meghan's baby will make history several times over

We’re finally here! The royal baby could arrive any day now and we couldn’t be more excited — although, Meghan Markle can probably appreciate the end of her pregnancy quite a bit more than we can.

When Harry and Meghan married, the union marked a historic occasion. And the (fast approaching) day that Baby Sussex arrives will also go down in history for a number of reasons.

1. The baby will be the first member of the British royal family to be eligible for American citizenship.

According to citizenpath.com, a child who is born abroad can typically acquire U.S. citizenship so long as one of his or her parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of birth, the U.S. citizen parent lived at least five years in the United States before the birth and at least two of those five years were after the parent’s 14th birthday.

There have been many questions about Meghan’s citizenship, but the palace has said she’ll become a British citizen sometime in the future. Whether she’ll become a dual citizen or let go of her American ties is yet to be seen.


2. It’s possible the baby won’t get a royal title.

Even though Harry and Meghan’s baby will be seventh in line to the throne, that doesn’t mean he or she will automatically receive a formal title.

Only the oldest son of the Prince of Wales' oldest son was entitled to receive the His Royal Highness or Prince title, according to King George V’s 1917 decree. In case we lost you, that person is Prince George, William and Kate’s eldest child.

It’s worth noting that Queen Elizabeth changed that decree to declare that all children of the oldest son of the Prince of Wales would be referred to with the attribution of Royal Highness, as well as having Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names.

Still, that doesn’t include the soon-to-be royal bundle of joy — at least, not for now.

Should Harry and Meghan have a boy, he would likely be known as Lord (baby’s name) Windsor, and a daughter would similarly be called Lady (baby’s name) Windsor.

Having said all that, Queen Elizabeth ultimately rules the roost, so she could decide to give Baby Sussex a title should she ever decide to.


3. The baby will be biracial.

... the first confirmed in modern history, anyway (and of American descendance). It was the dawn of a new era when Harry married Meghan, making her the first American biracial person in the royal family. Meghan’s mom is black and her father is white.

Just a couple centuries ago, however, Queen Charlotte was believed to have been biracial. According to People.com, though she was born in Germany, Queen Charlotte was from the direct Margarita de Castro Sousa line, the black branch of the Portuguese Royal House — something that was not made public knowledge until years after her death.


4. The baby will grow up at Windsor Castle’s Frogmore Cottage.

Kensington Palace announced in November that Harry and Meghan would be refurbishing and moving into the cottage, which is on the Windsor estate. There’s a reason why that’s newsworthy.

The cottage, which is next door to the Frogmore House and sits on 35 acres, hasn’t housed royals in many years.

At the end of the the 18th century, Queen Charlotte used it as a place for her and her daughters to get away from the court from time to time, according to BBC, to “escape (King) George's (III) madness.”

It housed a tutor to Queen Victoria in the 1800s and King George V’s “destitute” cousin for a spell in the early 1900s, but the home quickly became in “deplorable condition” after it had been “extremely neglected.”

Since WWII, it is believed that the cottage has housed members of the royal household staff, and it took major renovations to convert it from a five-unit home for palace staff to the home where the Sussexes will raise their new baby.

Some have recently speculated that the royal couple may make a move to Africa, while it has also been reported that they simply plan to take a couple-week tour around the time the baby is six months old. Should that trip happen, the baby would be one of the youngest royals to go on an official tour.

h/t People.com.


About the Author:

Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.