Royal baby may already be born, according to clues

The royal family has so far been mum on the birth status of Meghan Markle’s baby. The duchess is taking an unconventional route, keeping the details of her pregnancy away from prying eyes.

A lot of people are spending their time guessing when the baby will be born and what their name will be. It may be as soon as this weekend: Prince Harry abruptly shortened his visit to the Netherlands next week in favor of staying home a day longer.

But there’s plenty of evidence the baby is already here.

It’s time

A spokesperson for Kensington Palace originally announced in October 2018 that Markle was “expecting a baby in Spring 2019.” In January, Markle herself reportedly told a group of well-wishers that the baby’s due date was in April.

April has passed. It’s now May 3.

Prince Harry is still leaving

On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Harry would be in the Netherlands next week, on May 8 and May 9, as part of an introductory ceremony for the Invictus Games.

On Friday, the palace announced a change: He’s now skipping the Wednesday part of the trip and would only go on Thursday.

Read more:Prince Harry dropped a big clue that makes us think the royal baby might already be here

Considering his wife is expected to have a child, it would make sense that he’d want to maximize his time at home to make sure he doesn’t miss it.

But it makes even more sense that he’s canceling just one day of the trip if Markle has already given birth. If Markle was still pregnant, going to the Netherlands for one day still means he could still miss the birth date. But if the baby is already born, going for less time still makes sense. He’s simply minimizing the amount of time he’s spending away from his wife and newborn child.

They’re not doing any merchandise

In April, INSIDER reported that Markle and Prince Harry aren’t capitalizing on the birth of their child.

All of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s children had merchandise tie-ins sold by The Royal Collection Trust. They sold items like commemorative plates, pillboxes, and home decorations for each child.

Markle isn’t doing any of that.

Why? Merchandising would mean that the product releases would have to be timed to the birth date of the royal baby.

By not releasing products, the couple can obscure the birth of the royal baby.

What’s the point of obscuring the baby’s birth date? So that Markle doesn’t have to tell anyone when it finally arrives.

Markle reportedly planned a home birth

Markle planned to give birth with a midwife at her home at Frogmore Cottage — on the grounds of Windsor Castle — according to The Daily Mail.

It differs from Middleton’s plans. She had all three of her children at St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

Since Middleton posed for photographs at the hospital each time after she gave birth, it was relatively easy for reporters to figure out when it happened.

But Markle’s plan offers the cloak of privacy. It’s more difficult to independently divine whether the birth has happened yet.

Queen Elizabeth II visited their cottage

Over Easter, Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, visited Markle at Frogmore Cottage, according to ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

And while Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Harry all went to Easter services nearby, Markle herself stayed home.

Since Markle may have given birth at the cottage, and since she obviously values privacy, there’s a pretty good chance that the queen made the trip to visit her new great-grandchild.

Elizabeth also isn’t leaving Windsor Castle.

While the queen’s schedule is normally packed with social events, they’re all currently planned at Windsor Castle. For what other reason than to stay close to Meghan, Harry, and her new grandchild?

Not only is the queen currently at Windsor Castle, but Express reported that her royal diary has her on the castle grounds until May 7. Why would the 93-year-old queen plan to leave Windsor on May 7 if the baby still wasn’t born? She wouldn’t.

All signs seem to say that the new royal baby is already here. Long live Baby Sussex.