Meghan Markle Will Be Spared From This Embarrassing Age-Old Royal Birth Custom

With less than two months to go before Meghan Markle’s expected due date of delivery, the duchess and her royal husband, Prince Harry, are understandably very excited for the big day. However, there is one other thing that Meghan should also be happy about — she won’t have to endure one humiliating age-old royal birth custom.

When Meghan Markle gives birth to her firstborn, there will be no government minister around to witness the process. Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, was also spared from this age-old but cringe-worthy royal birth tradition.

As unbelievable as it may sound, there is a reason for this centuries-old royal birth custom. Back in the days, a government needs to be present during royal births to ensure that the baby is not switched with another one.

It all started in 1688, when Mary of Modena, wife of James II, became pregnant after 15 years of marriage. Given the length of time that it took the royal couple to succeed in pregnancy, there were rumors that Mary might not be really pregnant.

Thus, to squash future speculations that another baby might have been smuggled into the room during birth, it was decided that someone should be present to witness the event. In fact, it was quite worse in Mary’s case as she had to give birth to James Francis Edward in front of dozens of officials. The audience even included the Archbishop of Canterbury, family members, ambassadors and ministers of state.

But the situation greatly improved a few centuries later. Queen Victoria declared in 1894 that royal births will only need the presence of one government minister, the Home Secretary.

The last royal birth that required the presence of the Home Secretary happened in 1936, when Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Princess Alexandra, gave birth. The practice has been stopped by the time the Queen gave birth to her firstborn, Prince Charles.

Meanwhile, Meghan revealed her expected delivery. “End of April, early May,” the Duchess replied to a well-wisher on a trip to Birkenhead. “One of my friends was saying she was five weeks early, so you can never really gauge ... when it's ready. We're ready. We're so excited.”