The palace has given an update on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal baby. With just weeks or even days until Prince Harry and Meghan meet their child, the palace has announced in a statement: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby. Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family."
Meghan, 37, has previously revealed that she is due at the end of April or beginning of May. The couple have said they are keeping the gender of their firstborn a surprise, but fans seem convinced that Meghan is having a daughter. This week, William Hill suspended all bets on the royal baby's gender after they received an "avalanche" of bets on a girl.
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Duchess is due any day now
"People were only betting one way and we ended up cutting the odds of the baby being a girl to 2/5," said the bookmakers' spokesman Joe Crilly. "When people were still desperate to back that price, we decided to take evasive action and pull the market completely. As far as we are concerned, the secret is out." There have also been lots of bets on what the royal couple may name a baby girl, with Diana leading the way at 4/1, followed by Victoria at 8/1 and Alice at 10/1.
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The surge in bets may also have been inspired by comments made by Meghan's close friend Serena Williams, who, in an interview with E!, spoke about "a friend" who is expecting a baby and referred to the child as "she".
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Asked if she has advice for new parents, the tennis champion answered: "Accept mistakes and don't expect to be perfect. We put so much pressure on ourselves." She then revealed: "My friend is pregnant and she's like, 'Oh, my kid's gonna do this,' and I just looked at her and I was like, 'No, she's not.'" She then quickly moved on to talking about her own experiences.
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