The Complex Citizenship Rules For Meghan and Harry's Baby

Hot on the heels of last week's royal wedding between Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank comes more amazing royal news: another royal baby! That's right, Kensington Palace has officially announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their first baby. Rumours that Meghan is pregnant have been swirling since her May wedding to Prince Harry, and her covered-up choice of dress at Eugenie's wedding only fuelled the speculation.

Baby Sussex will be the first time that a senior royal's child will also have an American-born parent. Since Meghan is still an American citizen — and will be for the next few years — questions have popped up as to the child's citizenship status. There are actually a few options.

Like the US, the UK has birthright citizenship, so if the new royal baby is born in the UK, they will automatically hold British citizenship. However, it would be possible for the baby to hold dual citizenship, but it will depend on Meghan's citizenship status. The duchess is in the process of becoming a British citizen, but has not stated whether she intends to maintain dual American citizenship or not. If she does, that opens an avenue for her child to hold dual American citizenship as well, as the child of a US citizen married to a non-US citizen and living abroad.

The baby is due in May 2019, so Harry and Meghan have plenty of time to consider all the details!