Prince Harry has always maintained a close relationship with the family of his late mother, Princess Diana, and that is expected to continue as he and Meghan Markle prepare to welcome their first child together.
The Spencer family is expected to play a major role in the child’s life, notes Entertainment Tonight. After all, the Spencers played major roles at Harry and Markle’s wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in May 2018. All three of Diana’s siblings — Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Charles Spencer were there, as were their families. Harry’s cousins Louis Spencer and Lady Kitty Spencer even became viral stars during the wedding.
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Fellowes was also enlisted to read from the Song of Solomon before Harry and Markle exchanged vows.
Lady Jane Fellowes gives a reading from the Song of Solomon #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/SQSj692LGT
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 19, 2018
“Prince Harry and Ms. Markle both feel [honored] that Lady Jane will be representing her family and helping to celebrate the memory of the late Princess on the wedding day,” Kensington Palace said in a statement before the wedding.
Since becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Markle has honored Diana several times by wearing Diana’s jewels, which Kate Middleton has done as well. Diana’s diamonds were even integral to the engagement ring Harry gave Markle.
“The ring is yellow gold, because that’s [Meghan Markle’s] favorite, and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana, and the little diamonds either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection to make sure that she’s with us on this — on this crazy journey together,” Harry explained in a 2017 BBC interview.
Markle also wore Diana’s famous aquamarine ring on the way from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House on the day of the wedding.
While Harry and Markle have said they want to keep the baby’s gender a surprise until he or she is born, bookies in the U.K. are already betting that they will name the child after Diana. Ladbrokes put the odds of the couple naming the baby after Princess Diana at 6/1, reports PEOPLE.
Prince William and Middleton already named one of their children after Diana. Princess Charlotte’s full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, paying tribute to her late grandmother and great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Baby Sussex is expected to be born in late April or early May. According to royal reporter Omid Scobie, she is starting to get nervous about becoming a mom for the first time.
“Sources close to Meghan say that, like any new mom-to-be, she’s feeling somewhat nervous as the due date approaches, but Harry is there by her side,” royal reporter Omid Scobie told Good Morning America on Wednesday. “He’s decreased a lot of his work to be there for his wife.”
To make matters worse, the couple’s long-gestating move to Frogmore College has been delayed because of renovations.
“It’s been all hands to the pump. The builders have worked all week whatever the weather. But they keep making changes, particularly on the layout,” a source claimed to The Sun. “The word is they’ve been quite demanding, which is understandable as what homeowner doesn’t want their house to be perfect?”
Photo credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images
