Harry and Meghan paid tribute to his late mother when they announced they were expecting another baby. Photo / Getty Images
Harry and Meghan paid tribute to his late mother when they announced they were expecting another baby. Photo / Getty Images
On this day in 1984, Princess Diana announced she was expecting her second child.
Fast forward 37 years and that very child, Prince Harry, has revealed he and his wife Meghan Markle are also expecting baby number two.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement via a spokesperson today – Valentine's Day in the US – declaring: "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."
The statement was released alongside a black-and-white portrait of Meghan caressing her bump as she lay on Harry's lap in a garden.
While the pair didn't mention the significance of the date in their statement, it is a safe guess the timing was no coincidence.
Meghan and Harry's first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born in May 2019, a year after the couple's royal wedding in Windsor.
He was born at the private Portland Hospital in London, with baby number two expected to be delivered in the US after Meghan and Harry relocated to California last year.
It's not the first time Meghan and Harry have paid subtle tribute to Diana with their big public announcements.
Diana and Charles announced they were expecting their second child in 1984. Photo / Getty Images
Their official statement after the birth of Archie, which listed the names of those who had been notified of the birth, included Diana's siblings.
"The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Earl Spencer have been informed and are delighted with the news," the statement read.
This differed from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's press releases for their three children, which featured only the Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, along with "members of both families".
Baby news! “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother,” says a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.” pic.twitter.com/GrqSiBxaXa
The 39-year-old described how she felt a "sharp cramp" one morning after changing Archie's nappy.
"I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right," she wrote.
"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.
"Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband's hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we'd heal."
