Did Meghan Markle Have a Home Birth? Here's Every Clue

Baby Sussex has graced the world with his presence, and both Meghan Markle and the yet-to-be-named boy are apparently resting quietly and happily. It was already rumored that Meghan wanted to give birth at Frogmore Cottage instead of at a hospital and had been working with a doula. So did she give birth at home, like she wanted?

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It's finally happened! Baby Sussex has graced the world with his presence (yes, he—it's a boy!), and both Meghan Markle and the yet-to-be-named boy are apparently resting quietly and happily. It was already rumored that Meghan wanted to give birth at Frogmore Cottage instead of at a hospital, and had been working with a doula well in advance of the birth. So did she give birth at home, like she wanted? There are some clues that she might have. Update, 5/6: The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle gave birth in an unnamed London hospital, rather than have a home birth.

Original post: First, there's the timing of the birth itself, taken directly from Buckingham Palace's tweet: 0526. Right now the U.K. is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so that would have been 12:26 EST, just after midnight on Monday morning. Intriguingly, the announcement came that Meghan was in labor this morning, shortly before 9 a.m. EST, and then the notification came through that Meghan had already delivered hours earlier. What that means is that Meghan's exact labor timing was hidden, and that announcements were only released after the event happened.

Also, eagle-eyed reporters have been keeping an eye on Frogmore Cottage, and there were no reports of ambulances coming or going. Then, there's the fact that we have some more details from the birth announcement:

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Notice that Doria Ragland is currently with Meghan (and presumably was during the birth, too, considering she flew to England a couple weeks before), and is with Harry and Meghan at Frogmore Cottage. That would be a very quick turnaround, to have Meghan deliver at a hospital at 5 a.m., then go back home, with no one spotting it, and now be home resting just after 2 p.m. Now, hospitals in the U.K. have a much quicker turnaround for sending new moms safely home than in the U.S., but again, that would be a lot of noticeable activity in a short time.

Then there's the fact that Harry briefly came to make a statement from outside Frogmore:

Prince Harry spoke briefly about how proud he was and to thank everyone for their love and support before going back inside. So Frogmore sounds like it was absolutely home base for all the activity.

Regardless of whether she did or not (really, until and if they tell us, we're guessing), the news is amazing. Welcome Baby Sussex!

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Katherine J. Igoe
Katherine J. Igoe
Contributing Editor

Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award. 

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.