How Meghan Markle's Pregnancy Announcement Honors Princess Diana

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry picked a very special date to announce their pregnancy, and not just because it was Valentine's Day. Find out how they paid tribute to his late mother, Princess Diana.

By Corinne Heller Feb 14, 2021 9:59 PMTags
Watch: Meghan Markle Expecting Baby No. 2 With Prince Harry

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry chose a very special date to announce they are expecting a sibling for son Archie Harrison.

Not only is Sunday, Feb. 14 Valentine's Day, but it is also almost exactly 37 years to the day that it was revealed that the Duke of Sussex's late mother Princess Diana was pregnant with Harry! It was announced on Feb. 13, 1984 that the Princess of Wales and Prince Charles were expecting their second child, and newspapers bearing the happy news on their front pages were distributed worldwide the following day.

Harry was born on Sept. 15, 1984. He is now 36 years old—the same age Diana was when she died in a car crash in 1997.

Harry and Meghan, 39, and Charles, now 72, and Diana revealed their pregnancy news in statements to the press. Meghan and Harry's spokesperson said in theirs, "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."

photos
Meghan Markle & Prince Harry's Quotes on Parenthood

Meghan and Harry have a private spokesperson and quit social media before they left their positions as senior members of the U.K.'s royal family last year. They had revealed the duchess' pregnancy with Archie in 2018 on Instagram in a statement released by Kensington Palace.

Buckingham Palace, which represents Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, had announced both Diana's pregnancies with Harry and older brother Prince William in statements to the press.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images, Anwar Hussein/WireImage

"Both Prince Charles and Princess Diana are delighted by the news—as are the queen, Prince Philip and all the members of both families," the UPI news wire quoted the palace as saying about Diana's pregnancy with Harry. The statement added that the princess "will continue her public engagements insofar as is possible" but "regretfully" has canceled a tour of Italy she and Charles were to have made in October.