The Emotional Way Meghan Markle Reportedly Described Lilibet Diana

Not only is Meghan Markle an actor and philanthropist and the wife of the Duke of Sussex, but she's also a mother of two young children. Her eldest, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on May 6, 2019 in the U.K., while her daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, made her arrival in June at a Santa Barbara Hospital. In July, Prince Harry gushed about being a father of two and spoke to Ed Sheeran at a charity event in London. The "Bad Habits" singer asked Harry how he was coping in the "trenches" — but Harry seemed relaxed. "We've been lucky so far, she's very chilled and seems happy to just sit there," he responded (via Goss.ie), but added, "while Archie is running around like crazy." Sounds like an idyllic, if somewhat hectic, life.

Shortly after Archie was born, Meghan revealed that she found pregnancy and motherhood challenging. In the documentary "Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, " she reflected (via Time), "Any woman, especially when they're pregnant, you're really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it's a lot." At the same time, she maintained that being a new mom to Archie was extraordinary. "It's magic, it's pretty amazing," she shared, per NBC.

However, Meghan's journey to having Lilibet Diana differed from her pregnancy with Archie. Keep reading to find out how Lilibet Diana's birth affected the duchess.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle suffered an unimaginable loss shortly after leaving the U.K. to start a new life in the United States. Meghan was pregnant with the couple's second child when she had a miscarriage in July 2020, per BBC. In an essay for the New York Times, the Duchess of Sussex detailed "watching my husband's heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine." Their heartbreak was so profound that when they found out that they were expecting another child, according to royal experts, they kept the news quiet. 

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, in their book "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family," described why the couple decided to keep their pregnancy news on lockdown. "She [Meghan] felt it was truly a blessing from God," they said, per the Mirror. It seems as if the duchess, in particular, was truly grateful about the pregnancy. The authors continued, "But this time, they were careful not to tell anyone. It wasn't until toward the end of the year that they both started to feel more relaxed." It sounds as if Meghan and Harry weren't taking any chances after the 2020 miscarriage, and opted to forego the stress of being pregnant in the spotlight again. And now that Lilibet Diana has been born, it seems as if all their sacrifice has been worth it.