TORONTO -- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting a second child, a spokesperson for the couple tells CTV News.
“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 spokesperson said Sunday.
Prince Harry and Meghan both stepped back from official royal duties last year, moving to California after a brief sojourn on Vancouver Island.
The spokesperson did not say when the child is expected to be born.
The couple's first child, Archie, was born in May 2019. Last November, Meghan revealed in an opinion piece for the New York Times that she had a miscarriage several months earlier. She said she was sharing her story in the hope of helping others.
While a new child is always exciting, the news is particularly uplifting given the tragedy the couple went through in the fall, Richard Berthelsen, CTV’s royal commentator, said on CTV News Channel.
“People really feel a degree of empathy and sadness for them about what happened, so this is good news,” he said.
The baby would be eighth in line for the throne, he said, but will likely not have a royal title at birth due to the couple’s decision to step away from royal duties and raise their children in the U.S.
“The difficulty is, of course, when the rest of the royal family will see this baby, with lockdown,” Berthelsen said.
Sunday's announcement also included the release of a new photo of the Sussexes, in which Meghan is lying on a lawn with her head in the lap of Harry, who is barefoot and sitting. Both are smiling.
The photo was taken remotely by Misan Harriman, a photographer and friend of the couple who congratulated them on Instagram for growing their family.
The Sussexes have been in the news this week due to a court battle over claims that British media company Associated Newspapers violated their privacy by publishing portions of a letter that Meghan wrote to her father following her wedding in 2018.
A judge ruled Thursday that the publisher both invaded Meghan's privacy and infringed on her copyright in articles that were printed in the Mail on Sunday and on the MailOnline website. The publisher has said it is considering an appeal.
The couple also recently launched a podcast. Their debut episode, which was released in the final days of 2020, ended with Archie wishing listeners a happy new year and included this bit of wisdom from Meghan: "No matter what life throws at you guys, trust us when we say, love wins."
WIth files from Alexandra Mae Jones
