New mother Princess Eugenie no doubt has her hands full with her baby son, but royal fans have rushed to her defence on social media claiming that the news of Meghan Markle’s pregnancy has stolen her thunder for the second time.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who currently reside in California, announced yesterday that they were expecting their second child, five days after Princess Eugenie, 30 and Jack Brooksbank, 34, welcomed a baby boy on Tuesday, and only two days after Eugenie was discharged from hospital.
Fans on Twitter said that Harry and Meghan should have waited longer to break the news of their pregnancy, in order to let Eugenie have her moment and release the first images of her newborn and his name first.
They likened the awkward timing to how Harry and Meghan announced their first pregnancy with their son Archie to the rest of the royal family during Eugenie’s wedding in October 2018 – days before the official Buckingham Palace announcement.
‘It did not go down particularly well with Eugenie, who, a source said, told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news,’ Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand reported in the biography Finding Freedom.
Royal fans have accused Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to have once again stolen Princess Eugenie’s thunder by announcing their second pregnancies days after she’s given birth to her son, after announcing their first pregnancy to family at her wedding on October 12 2018 (pictured: Eugenie and her wedding day with Jack Brooksbank)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, 36 and 39, who currently reside in California with their son Archie, 20 months, have announced yesterday they are expecting a second child and shared a beautiful black and white picture showing Meghan’s baby bump in the announcement
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex told close family members the news at the nuptials because it was the last time they saw senior royals before jetting off to Australia for the start of their royal tour.
Just four days later, on the eve of their arrival in Sydney, Meghan and Harry announced that they were expecting. At the time Meghan was just 12 weeks pregnant, but the couple chose to announce early rather than to have the entire tour overshadowed by pregnancy rumours, which were already swirling.
The incident was also branded a ‘huge social gaffe; by Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett, in their explosive book Royals At War, which was published in June 2020.
Eugenie, who tied the knot with Jack on October 12 2018 was reportedly furious with her cousin after he and Meghan announced to family and friends present at the wedding they were expecting their first child.
‘Meghan put her foot in it when she decided that it would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child,’ the pair wrote.
‘This was a huge social gaffe, even if you were not a royal – stealing the limelight from Eugenie, who was furious, as was her mother, Sarah.’ The authors claim the announcement left Prince Harry, who is currently living in LA with his wife and son, feeling ’embarrassed’.
The pregnancy was announced to the public on 15 October 2018, which coincided with the 59th birthday of Eugenie’s mother Sarah Ferguson on the eve of Prince Harry and Meghan’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.
In 2018, Harry and Meghan reportedly infuriated Eugenie and her mother Sarah Ferguson by announcing their first pregnancy at her wedding in a ‘huge social gaffe’ (pictured attending Eugenie’s ceremony)
Now fans say the timing of the couple’s latest announcement was poor form, even if unintentional.
‘They had to announce it when Eugenie just gave birth. It looks like something against her. They did the same at their wedding,’ one fan wrote.
‘So happy for the couple. But again, she couldn’t give Eugenie a week before stealing her thunder. First their wedding and now this,’ another said.
The date of Harry and Meghan’s latest announcement seemed to be an intentional nod to Princess Diana, whose second pregnancy with Prince Harry was announced by Buckingham Palace on February 13 1984, and made front page news around the country the next day on Valentine’s Day.
A spokesperson for Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, said: ‘We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother.
‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child,’ they went on.
The couple accompanied the announcement with an intimate black and white picture taken remotely by their friend and photographer Missan Harriman.
While some fans said the awkward timing of Harry and Meghan’s announcement was unintentional, others said the couple at least had waited a few days after Eugenie gave birth to make their announcement
In the candid snap, Harry is resting his hand on Meghan’s head as she lay in his lap underneath a tree.
While congratulating the couple for their good news, royal fans could not help notice that their announcement was extremely close to the birth of Princess’s Eugenie’s son, which happened Tuesday.
The Queen’s granddaughter had husband Jack Brooksbank at her side at The Portland Hospital in central London where their son – the Queen’s ninth great grandchild – was delivered at 8.55am.
The couple broke with tradition by immediately sharing a black and white photo to Eugenie’s Instagram of their baby boy on the day, showing them holding his tiny hand.
Following the announcement, Eugenie and Jack were spotted leaving the hospital on Saturday to take their little bundle of joy home.
Fans noted the fact Harry and Meghan did not wait a full week to come out with their own news was reminiscent of the time they announced their first pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding in 2018.
Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank announced she had delivered a son in the morning of Tuesday 9 February and shared a picture of their hands holding the baby’s fingers on Instagram
New mum Eugenie was discharged from hospital on Friday to take her son home to Frogmore Cottage
‘Megs, I know it probably wasn’t intentional, but strong women don’t overshadow each other,’ they added.
‘It’s because Meg & Harry make a point of dropping news when Harry’s family does. The moment we heard Eugenie had a baby we knew it would be hours before Meg announced a pregnancy,’ another claimed,
‘At least this time she didn’t do it on the exact day like she did on Eugenie’s wedding day,’ they added.
‘However happy for them, I can’t help noticing that they did it again: announcing the first baby at Eugenie’s wedding and now, the second one after she just gave birth,’ one wrote.