Duke & Duchess expecting

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Duchess Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, during a meeting with academics and students to discuss the challenges faced by young women in accessing higher education at the university of Johannesburg in South Africa
Photo: PPE/Royal/WENN.com

The Duke & Duchess of Sussex are expecting another baby.

Prince Harry and his wife announced the news on Valentine's Day (14Feb21).

The two, whose son Archie will be two in May (21), shared a beautiful shot of themselves, barefoot, in a garden setting, with Duchess Meghan showing off a baby bump, as she lay on the grass with her head in her husband's lap.

The news comes a year after the pair announced plans to step away from the royal glare and become a private couple, and days after she won her invasion of privacy battle against U.K. tabloid editors.

Meghan took officials at Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and sister website MailOnline, to court after the 2019 publication of excerpts of a private letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August, 2018. The case was expected to go to trial in London, but last month (Jan21), Meghan's attorneys requested a summary judgment, insisting there was "no real prospect" of Associated Newspapers chiefs emerging victorious in the suit.

High Court Judge Mark Warby agreed, and last week (11Feb21), he ruled in the Duchess' favor, declaring the former actress "had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private," adding that the five articles published had "interfered with that reasonable expectation".

He continued, "Taken as a whole, the disclosures were manifestly excessive and hence unlawful. There is no prospect that a different judgment would be reached after a trial."

Although Meghan succeeded in winning her case on the grounds of privacy, she will still have to face a limited trial to determine who owns the copyright of the note, as defense lawyers claim she penned the five-page letter with the help of members of the communications team at her former Kensington Palace office.

Judge Warby admitted the argument "cannot be described as convincing, and seems improbable," but decided it was a matter to be resolved at trial.

In a statement issued after the news emerged, Meghan said: "(I am) grateful to the courts for holding Associated Newspapers and The Mail on Sunday to account for their illegal and dehumanising practices... For these outlets, it's a game. For me and so many others, it's real life, real relationships, and very real sadness. The damage they have done and continue to do runs deep."