Meghan Markle Shares Due Date and Whether She and Prince Harry Know First Baby's Gender.
The Duchess of Sussex let slip her baby's due date as she chatted to well-wishers in Birkenhead today.
Meghan, 37, revealed that she is six months pregnant, with her first child expected in late April
as she met locals in the Merseyside town during her and Prince Harry's first joint engagement of the year.
She also revealed the couple don't know whether they're having a boy or a girl, as they want it to be a 'surprise'.
The brief exchange took place as Meghan, glowing in a red wrap coat worn over a figure-hugging £107 purple dress from Babaton by Aritizia,
chatted to locals who had gathered to meet her and Harry.
While Kensington Palace have not publicly revealed Meghan's due date,
royal fans had previously speculated that Baby Sussex could be expected as early as March due to her blossoming baby bump.
Meghan paired her colourful dress with a £1,695 Gabriela Hearst leather 'bowling' bag and vertiginous red stilettos and,
in a return to her signature style, the duchess ditched the sleek chignon she's been sporting in recent weeks
in favour of a relaxed 'messy' bun as she and Harry charmed the locals who had gathered to see them.
Her £1,085 red coat, believed to be a new addition to her wardrobe,
is from Canadian brand Sentaler and the duchess has worn the brown version previously in Sandringham.
Speaking after her royal encounter, local woman Kim Thompson said:
'She said she is six months pregnant and due at the end of April, beginning of May'.
Harry was also heard asking one mother how her daughter Lily's name was spelt,
although Meghan insisted that they did not know the sex of their baby.
Miss Thompson said: 'Another woman in the crowd joked that she was a trained midwife.
Meghan said that one of her friends had [given birth] five weeks early and [the midwife] said the baby comes when they are ready.
I said, as long as they are healthy, and Meghan agreed.
Then she said, pointing to Harry, 'He's going to make a fantastic father'.
The Duchess also chatted to a hypnobirthing teacher, Sonia Richards, who was in the crowd with her mother Marion Mazumder.
Sonia, who runs Wirral Hypno, said: 'I told her I teach hypnobirthing and she said, 'It's such a special thing that you are doing'.
She looked radiant, she looked really well and I just wished her a wonderful birth'.
Marion added: 'I said I am looking forward to the baby coming and she said, 'So are we''.
The couple also knelt down when meeting a group of blind children, allowing them to feel their faces.
The royal couple were also given a babygro bearing the words 'Born in 2019' by eight year old Harry Edwards and Megan O'Carroll, of St Werburgh's.
The schoolchildren were among 16 pupils whose names were pulled out of a hat by teachers to attend the walkabout in Birkenhead's Hamilton Square.
Told it was Megan's ninth birthday, Harry asked her:
'Has anyone sung Happy Birthday to you yet? No? I think we should...', leading the crowd in the song.
Arriving a few moments later, Meghan said: 'I missed a happy birthday that was happening!'
Told it was for her little namesake, the Duchess leaned down to shake her hand, saying: 'Happy birthday, Megan!'
And when she realised Megan was standing with another Harry, she giggled:
'Oh my gosh, really? Megan and Harry? That's really sweet, that's so nice'.
The Duchess also spotted a handmade sign by Lewis Avis-Taylor, nine,
from Park Primary School in Wallasey, which read: 'Welcome Harry and Meghan'.
The 37-year-old told a young girl in the crowd that neither she or husband Prince Harry know the sex of their first child and were 'keeping it as a surprise'.
Kitty Dudley, nine, from St Anne's Primary School in nearby Rockferry, said:
'Meghan came up to me and asked me how old I was and where I went to school.
I could see her bump and I asked if she was having a boy or a girl and she said 'we don't know whether it's a boy or girl, we are keeping it as a surprise'.
Megan Redford, seven, quizzed the Duchess on baby names saying:
'She asked me if I was called Meg or Meghan because she said her friends call her Meg and mine do as well.
'I asked her whether she would call her baby Amy if she has a girl and she said 'That's a really pretty name, I like it, we'll have to think about it'.
The former actress could be seen frequently holding her growing baby bump,
which could clearly be seen protruding from her purple Babaton by Aritizia dress and Sentaler coat.
Meghan said she was 'feeling really well' and thanked locals including 92-year-old Dorothy Parker from Hoylake for waiting in the cold to see her.
Dorothy said: 'I thanked Meghan for coming to see us and asked her how she was feeling.
She told me she was feeling really well and said the best part of her day was meeting me.
She's such a lovely woman and so beautiful I'm delighted I got to meet her'.
'What a nice sign, did you make that?' she asked.
Told he had made sure to spell her name correctly, she laughed, adding: 'Thank you, I do appreciate that!'
St. Werburgh's Deputy Headteacher Sarah Dakin said: 'It's amazing to see them here in Birkenhead.
A lot of our children use The Hive and lots of their mum's use Tomorrow's Women,
so the visit is really important for the community.
On the walkabout they were given a teddy bear and lots of gifts and flowers.
'We asked her how her pregnancy was going and she said she was six months and she tapped her tummy,'
said Carla Gandy, from nearby Wallasey, who was there with her daughter Sofia, four.
She told others that she's due in late April.
Rebecca Blundell, who was in Hamilton Square with daughters Lily, six, and Lottie, two, says harry asked how to spell Lily's name.
'Meghan came up straight after and said that he's going to be a fantastic dad'.
Another member of the crowd added: 'She said her pregnancy had gone so quickly,'
'I asked her how she was coping on those high heels. She said 'One day at a time!'
The couple travelled to Merseyside from London this morning to visit organisations that support and empower groups within the community.
Their first stop was Birkenhead's Hamilton Square to view a new sculpture that was erected in November to mark the 100th anniversary of war poet Wilfred Owen's death.
The statue, which is named after one of Owen's works, Futility, is cast in bronze and represents an exhausted First World War soldier.
After unveiling a plaque to mark their visit, Harry and Meghan met local veterans and members of the Birkenhead Institute Old Boys,
which Owen belonged to, and played a part in the creation of the tribute.
Owen, who lived in the area for seven years of his childhood and was educated at Birkenhead Institute,
wrote poetry influenced by his experiences in the trenches.
He was killed trying to cross a canal a week before the end of the war in 1918.
The Duke and Duchess then undertook a royal walkabout amongst the large crowds,
many of whom had been queuing for hours to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.
Prince Harry gave four-year-old Eliza Morris a hug after seeing her sign 'Gingers Unite;
I love you Harry' on a walkabout today. He said, 'I love this! Do you love your hair? The sign is amazing!'
Harry stopped as he and Meghan spent more than 45 minutes chatting to the crowds.
Fans presented Meghan with bouquets of flowers, and she looked particularly delighted
with the gift of handmade paper flowers from a young fan from the nearby Fun Train Day Nursery.
The Duke and Duchess then travelled to Number 7, a Feeding Birkenhead citizen's supermarket and community café,
to official open the new premises in a surprise visit.
Feeding Birkenhead is a coalition of churches, food banks, community groups,
and other organisations working together to eliminate hunger in the Merseyside town.
The supermarket enables local families to buy their weekly shopping at a discounted price,
and provides advice and advocacy on benefits, looking for work, debt, budgeting, and cooking.
Harry and Meghan met with a number of the supermarket's staff and members,
learning more about how Number 7 helps to build the community's resilience against hunger.
Later they visited Tomorrow's Women Wirral, an organisation that supports women in vulnerable circumstances.
Initially established in 2011 to support women upon their release from prison,
it has since expanded and now offers a range of training courses and workshops for more than 6000 local women,
including support groups around mental health issues, domestic abuse, and addiction.
Harry and Meghan spoke to some of the women directly before visiting the onsite charity shop, café, and Inspiration Hall.
As they visited the group, which helps disadvantaged and vulnerable women,
Meghan proved herself to be very much in charge when she got to her feet for an impromptu speech, saying:
'We all know how important it is for me, women supporting each other'.
Echoing Harry's words, she added: 'It is also key that men are there supporting behind the scenes'.
As she spoke, Harry stood listening at her side.
Then, when she had finished she gestured towards the plaque and said laughingly to Harry: 'If you don't mind'.
Harry responded by making a humorous face, prompting laughter from the audience.
They also met women in a knitting group and another group making floral displays at Tomorrow's Women Wirral.
In the knitting group Harry was particularly taken with a tiny hat and pair of bootees for a premature baby.
'That's adorable,' he said on seeing the hat. Then, struck by how small the bootees were, he exclaimed: 'No way!'
Romel Cox, who knitted the bootees, said: 'They are for a newborn. He loved them'.
Amanda Copland, who runs the knitting group, said that Harry was so impressed with the baby knitwear that the women offered it to him as a gift.
Harry, however, was having none of it. 'He said, 'I only looked at them!'
She added that they clearly made a strong impression on him.
'He has got those gibbery knees from the new baby coming along. He was going all red in the cheeks'.
In the floristry room, the duchess was quizzed about whether she was having a boy or a girl.
After the duchess said she did not know, a woman suggested it would be a girl.
The duchess laughed: 'Everyone has got very strong opinions - that it's either a boy or a girl'.
In the knitting room the duchess spotted one woman, Carol Cullen, 71,
who was wearing a T shirt with a picture of Cilla Black and the words 'Talented Carol Sings Cilla'.
After Ms Cullen embraced the duchess, Meghan asked her what her favourite song was.
How Much Is That Doggie In The Window, she replied. 'My grandmother loved that song too,' said the duchess.
Val Curtis, Ms Cullen's Mencap 'buddy', said that she sang in the charity's Christmas pantomime.
Turning to Ms Cullen, she told her: 'I told you if you wore that T shirt you would get noticed'.
In her speech the duchess said: 'We really believe in the work that Tomorrow's Women is doing but having spoken to all of you,
we very much believe in each and every one of you.
The courage that you have, the resilience that is being built with you being here, and just the journey that you keep continuing to take.
'You're an inspiration to so many people so thank you for having us'.
Angela Murphy, the chief executive of Tomorrow's Women, said the charity was set up as an alternative to probation,
but has since expanded into providing a range of services for other as well as ex-offenders.
It started with 28 women on its books: it now helps 6,500 women with training courses
and workshops including support groups around mental health issues, domestic abuse and addiction.
Mrs Murphy said: 'It is about empowering women so that they know their worth and can lead the positive lives they want to lead.
'Any issue that a woman has that might get her into difficulty, they can come here. We can stop them from going any further.
If they are coming in because they have debt issues, or can't cope because they are drinking too much, we are diverting them'.
Their last stop of the day was the Hive Wirral Youth Zone. Created by the charity OnSide Youth Zones,
which is developing 21st century youth facilities across the UK,
the Hive provides a safe environment where young people can come and enjoy themselves,
building key skills and raising their aspirations and confidence.
Harry, who has previously expressed concern about the number of youth clubs shutting all over Britain because of council cuts, said:
'When every single youth club and youth service is being closed down, they just started something here'.
He told children at the state-of-the-art youth club in the town, the 96th most deprived area out of 32,844 in England:
'The more we can build these, the better - especially for you guys'.
The youth centre, which has 4,000 members paying £5 per year and boasts a sports centre, recording studio,
a skate park, climbing wall and countless other facilities, provides at least 20 activities per day.
Funded by a mixture of local authority, charity and private money,
it was set up by the OnSide Youth Zones charity in April 2017 but was officially opened today by Harry and Meghan.
In a neighbouring room, the couple talked to young people doing a team-building exercise
as part of a course in employability with jobs coaches from The Hive and the Prince's Trust.
Among them was Alexandra Tolond, 19, who gave them a pineapple-design clock she had made
as a way of explaining how The Hive has helped her get over mental health problems,
which she did not want to detail - stemming back to the death of her father when she was 11.
Pineapple was a safe word she used to acknowledge she was struggling to cope. 'The Hive literally saved my life,' she said.
Harry and Meghan praised her as an inspiration.'I will look at the pineapple and always think of you, Alex,' Meghan said.
Before they left, Meghan unveiled a plaque marking the official opening of the centre.
Mr Field, who has served Birkenhead since 1979,
wrote to the couple himself and said he was 'absolutely thrilled' when they accepted his offer.
He told the newspaper: 'Although there are hundreds of projects I'd like the royal couple to see,
the groups they will be meeting next week are characteristic of so much of the good work going on in Birkenhead.
'They will be seeing a stunning World War I memorial that sets new standards for sculpture.
They will also launch new projects that are at the cutting edge of fighting poverty,
draw even greater attention to the inspirational work being done by Tomorrow's Women Wirral,
and witness the impact The Hive is having on the lives of so many young people in Wirral'.
Mr Field said the visit to Tomorrow's Women will be of great interest
to Meghan in particular with her focus on women's issues and countering modern slavery.
He added: 'She will be talking to women there on these issues
as well as how they successfully make the transition back from prison to society'.
Mr Field said the projects were chosen by the couple and for their proximity to one another.
That means they can spend more time meeting people from Birkenhead rather than travelling longer distances between engagements, the Echo reported.
The MP praised the royal family for showing interest in 'bodies that fill gaps that the state cannot and doesn't reach',
and 'making sure money is raised so that those bodies have viable budgets'.
Pregnant Meghan, who is expecting her first child with Harry this spring,
is continuing to keep a busy schedule packed with royal engagements as she nears her due date.
The mother-to-be stepped out in London last week and the couple will also make an appearance
on Wednesday to watch Cirque du Soleil's TOTEM at the Royal Albert Hall,
as part of a fundraising campaign for Harry's charity Sentebale.
It comes as the couple continue to make renovations on their new home,
Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, ahead of the birth of their first child.
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