The world is waiting with bated breath for news of the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal baby.
But as anticipation for the birth (which may have already happened in secret) reaches boiling point – it’s time to speculate exactly what the new addition to the British monarchy even means.
The offspring of Meghan and Harry will lead very a different life to their cousins Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, one.
Baby Sussex will be seventh in line to the throne – meaning Meghan and Harry’s son or daughter will likely never be King or Queen.
The child will lead a quieter life, further away from the spotlight than the closer heirs to the throne.
In terms of ‘celebrity’ – Baby Sussex will be the 2019 equivalent of Zara or Peter Phillips, children of Prince Charles’ sister Princess Anne, or Prince Andrew’s daughters Eugenie and Beatrice.
Just last year, Princess Eugenie admitted she was in a ‘unique limbo’ as royals who are not close enough to the throne to earn full-time jobs working for the British monarchy.
‘There is no precedent, there is no protocol,’ she told Vogue. ‘We are the first: we are young women trying to build careers and have personal lives, and we’re also princesses and doing all of this in the public eye.’
Battling the severe gaze of the public eye whilst trying to land a normal, working job and have a healthy personal life will be quite the challenge for Baby Sussex.
Despite this sad reality, any royal child will be afforded an unimaginable level of privilege and luxury.
While they won’t be expected to carry out official royal duties very often, Harry and Meghan’s child will be given the tools they need to ‘carve their own path’ in life.
The Queen (or King if Prince Charles ascends the throne) will probably have much less control over Baby Sussex than the likes of Prince George, who is the future King.
The child will likely be allowed their own personal social media and won’t be forced to attend every official royal appointment.
Regardless, Baby Sussex has definitely won the lottery of life.