Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their son early Monday morning — and the new dad says he is “over the moon.”
The Duke of Sussex told the press that the newborn — who weighs seven pounds, three ounces — is a “very healthy boy” and that he and Markle are both doing “incredibly well.”
“It’s been the most amazing experience I could ever possibly imagine,” Prince Harry said. “How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension.”
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Markle and Prince Harry previously broke royal tradition when they revealed certain details of their birthing plan and implied they would not show their newborn to the public hours after its birth. (This “stepping out” is a common Royal Family tradition, and Kate Middleton and Prince William revealed their children this way.)
Prince Harry told media on Monday that, instead, he and Markle will show the world their son in “about two days.”
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Apart from this decision, there are other clues that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will raise their child on their own terms and may stay away from royal traditions.
Here are some possible ways they’ll raise their child differently.
Privacy is important
As the couple has said in the past, privacy is important to them. The new parents have remained tight-lipped on the name of their child and did not confirm their baby’s sex until he was born.
Their tendency to keep their personal lives as private as possible means they will likely be very protective of their son, too.
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When announcing the arrival of their son, palace officials said the Duke and Duchess thank members of the public for their “shared excitement and support” and will provide “more details” in the coming days.
The desire to keep their son out of the limelight will likely continue into his childhood, as the parents will keep his safety a top priority. Plus, according to reports, Markle wants her child to have as normal an upbringing as possible — reminiscent of Prince Harry and Prince William’s mother, Diana, who always sought the least media attention for her children.
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As reported by Vanity Fair, Markle and Prince Harry have opted for a “scaled-back team of staff” at their residence at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor and are currently relying on the help of Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland.
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Ragland will reportedly be staying with the couple and helping Markle with the baby until she is settled.
Feminism will play an important role
Part of Markle’s charity work includes advocating for causes that affect women, including Smart Works, an organization that provides clothing and job-interview training for unemployed and vulnerable women.
In the past, Markle has worked with World Vision, where she was a global ambassador from 2016 to 2017. She’s also worked with the United Nations, advocating for women’s rights.
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Markle is a feminist, and during a panel for International Women’s Day, a pregnant Duchess commented on her “feminist bump.”
When asked how her bump has been treating her, Markle said: “It’s funny, I’d actually been joking these past few weeks. I’d seen this documentary on Netflix about feminism, and one of the things they said during pregnancy was, ‘I feel the embryonic kicking of feminism.'”
“I loved that. So boy or girl, whatever it is, we hope that that’s the case,” she added.
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At the International Women’s Day event, Markle also said that men need to work with women in order to achieve gender equality and that men need to understand they can be “feminists as well.”
Gender stereotypes won’t be encouraged
According to reports, Markle plans to raise her son without gender stereotypes. While Kensington Palace denied reports that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are raising their child “gender fluid,” the couple wants to encourage a healthy upbringing.
Markle reportedly decorated her son’s nursery in gender-neutral colours and avoided traditional colours associated with gender, including pink and blue.
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Royal commentator Katie Nicholl told ET that the royal parents designed the nursery in a “very modern” fashion and used grey and white colouring.
Giving back
In a heartfelt Instagram post ahead of their son’s birth, Markle and Prince Harry asked people to kindly not send gifts for their child and instead donate to charity.
Volunteer work is a big part of the Duke and Duchess’ lives, as each of them has projects and organizations that they champion.
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Because of their passion for advocacy and charity work, it is safe to assume they will raise their son with the same values, too.
In 2016, Markle penned an essay for Elle magazine in which she wrote about how her upbringing shaped her.
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“My parents came from little so they made a choice to give a lot: buying turkeys for homeless shelters at Thanksgiving, delivering meals to people in hospices, giving spare change to those asking for it,” she wrote.
“It’s what I grew up seeing so it’s what I grew up being: a young adult with a social consciousness to do what I could and speak up when I knew something was wrong.”
Laura.Hensley@globalnews.ca
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