As royal watchers across the world await the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s firstborn, it’s likely that Baby Sussex is set to make history in more ways than one.
It turns out that in addition to being the first modern biracial royal in line for the throne (seventh, in fact), Baby Sussex will also technically be a US citizen and hold dual citizenship in the UK.
When Meghan became engaged to Prince Harry, Kensington Palace told the BBC that she would become a citizen of the United Kingdom: “She intends to become a UK. citizen and will go through the process of that, which some of you may know takes a number of years,” said their communications secretary Jason Knauf.
And since Meghan and Harry only wed May 2018, it’s almost certain that she still remains an American citizen, which means that Baby Sussex will be born to one British parent and one American parent.
According to the American Embassy in the UK, a child born outside of the US and in wedlock to a US citizen parent and a non US citizen parent, may acquire US citizenship at birth if the US parent lived in America for five years – two of which were after the age of 14.
So, as it stands, their baby would obtain dual citizenship for the US and UK if Meghan does not give up her American citizenship before she’s due to give birth.
