Meghan Markle Celebrates Baby-to-Be With Second Shower at Buckingham Palace

Just a month after celebrating her little royal on the way with friends in New York City, Meghan Markle will reportedly have a second baby shower at Buckingham Palace.

According to a source who spoke to the Daily Mail, the pregnant Duchess of Sussex, now just weeks away from welcoming the newest member of the British Royal Family, is planning to host a “small gathering” with friends at her new residence in Windsor, Frogmore Cottage.

“Doria is coming to a baby shower here. It will be a small gathering of five or six people,” the source said.

Along with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, baby shower attendees are expected to include Victoria Beckham and a number of other of the Duchess’ close friends. The shower, however, may have to be moved to Buckingham Palace, as renovations on Frogmore Cottage has been delayed.

News of the second baby shower follows a February report that the Duchess of Sussex’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, was planning to throw “some sort of private baby-centric event” in the U.K. At the time, it was unknown if the event, which would be attended by “her glam people and other relatives,” would be a “total ‘baby shower,’ but you could probably call it that.”

Baby showers are something of a taboo practice for British Royals. Kate Middleton herself did not hold any showers ahead of the births of her three children, Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and Prince Louis, 10-months. The Royal Family instead typically avoids such extravagant affairs as a sign of humility as “there’s nothing they can’t go out and buy themselves.”

That unspoken rule did not prevent the newly minted Duchess of Sussex from straying away from tradition. In February, Markle, well into her third trimester, traveled across the pond to join her friends, who threw her an elaborate party at New York City’s Upper East Side the Mark hotel.

Those in attendance included Serena Williams, who is believed to have spent at least $200,000 on the shower, co-host Amal Clooney, Gayle King, Markle’s former Suits costar Abigail Spencer, her college friend Lindsay Roth, her former stylist Jessica Mulroney, Misha Nonoo, Markus Anderson, Markle’s wedding makeup artist Daniel Martin, and Priyanka Chopra.

Along with the usual gifts, the partygoers took part in a “flower-arranging lesson.” Following the baby shower, however, Markle opted to donate the floral arrangements to to Repeat Roses, an organization that recycles flowers from events and turns them into bouquets for those in hospices, treatment centers, and homeless shelters.