Meghan thought to have revived royal home birth tradition by having baby at Frogmore Cottage
The Duchess of Sussex is understood to have avoided the public spotlight by giving birth to her first child in the comfort of her new home in Windsor.
Just like his grandfather, Prince Charles and his great-grandmother, the Queen, the new royal baby is not believed to have been born in hospital.
The Duchess of Cambridge had all three of her children at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in west London, and there was speculation Meghan and Harry could opt for a hospital closer to their new Windsor home, such as Frimley Park Hospital.
Instead the couple appear to have revived a royal tradition by having their baby at home in the newly-renovated Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are keeping details of the birth private for now, but the place of birth is likely to be revealed on the birth certificate.
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Royal tradition dictates that babies were usually born at home, usually in royal palaces.
The Queen adhered to the custom for all of her own four children, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex were born at Buckingham Palace, while the Princess Royal arrived at Clarence House.
When delivering Charles, Princess Elizabeth was given an anaesthetic to help ease the pain.
A restless Duke of Edinburgh played squash with his private secretary while his wife was in labour.
He was still on the courts at the palace when he learned of his son’s arrival, after King George VI’s private secretary rushed out to announce the birth.
For the birth of his youngest child, Edward, in 1964, Philip was, for the first time, said to be in the room, holding his wife’s hand.
Philip, Baby Sussex’s great-grandfather, was born a prince of Greece and Denmark, allegedly on the kitchen table of his family home, Mon Repos, on the Greek island of Corfu, in 1921.
When the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, arrived in the early hours of April 21 1926, she was delivered by Caesarean section at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, the home of her maternal grandparents.
Her mother, the Duchess of York, decided to give birth at her parents’ house after refusing to live in cold, dilapidated White Lodge in Richmond Park, which George V and Queen Mary had set aside for her as a marital base.
According to royal author Sarah Bradford, it was a “difficult birth” and “Elizabeth was a breech baby, her mother tiny and small boned”.
Just like Princess Elizabeth’s birth, Meghan may have had an operating theatre on stand-by at her home, as well as the latest birthing equipment for all eventualities.
The duchess was said to have picked her own medical team to directly oversee the arrival of her first child, rather than being led by the senior consultants who usually tend to the royal women.
Meghan may have had a water birth and hired or purchased a birth pool for use at home.
Diana, Princess of Wales, actually broke with royal tradition when she had Prince William, now the Duke of Cambridge, in the exclusive Lindo Wing of St Mary’s in 1982 - he was the first future British king to be born in a hospital
Prince William's brother, Prince Harry, was also born at the Lindo Wing.
Diana was following in the footsteps of her sister-in-law, Princess Anne, who had her two children Peter and Zara at the Lindo in 1977 and 1981.
The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at the private unit and posed on the steps with her newborns and Prince William standing by her side - just as Princess Diana did with both her sons.
Harry and Meghan are believed to have wanted to avoid the media circus that gathered outside the Lindo in anticipation and the pressure to appear with their newborn just hours after the birth.
Royal births through the ages were previously often far from private, with witnesses present to make sure no substitute baby or changeling had been smuggled into the room.
For Princess Elizabeth’s birth in 1926, the home secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, waited in the next room.
But Meghan was spared this intrusion as it has not been deemed necessary for royal babies for many years.