Polo Baby Sussex isn’t even here yet and we’re already talking about when the Duchess of Sussex will return from maternity leave. It’s been established that she absolutely is on maternity leave right now – the Commonwealth Day (nurse’s hat) appearance was supposed to be her last public event, but then she and Harry went to the christening for Zara Tindall’s baby, and Harry and Meg also stopped by New Zealand House to sign the condolence book, at the request of the Queen. But now she’s kicking back, nesting and awaiting the completion of the neverending renovation of Frogmore Cottage. So when will she get back to work? According to many sources, Meghan is already scheduling a big appearance in… October.
She has only just begun her well-deserved break before giving birth, but don’t expect the Duchess of Sussex to slow down for too long. According to a Palace insider, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are already planning for the fall, and one of the first engagements to go in their diaries will be in October. The couple will attend the annual summit for One Young World, a global forum supporting 10,000 young leaders from around the world, which will take place in London.
“Harry is keen to support Meghan in developing her own role and the opportunity to partner with a cause so close to her heart is an ideal stepping stone. All being well with the baby, the timing is perfect for her to expand her Commonwealth work through this new One Young World partnership with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust,” the source said.
Meghan’s close ties to the organization date back to 2014, and she worked with them as a counselor before she married into the royal family. She addressed delegates at the 2014 summit in Dublin and at the 2016 summit in Ottawa. Before the wedding, however, the Palace announced that Meghan would be focusing on her new royal role and a different array of charities.
I believe Meghan and Harry probably will attend this summit and it will be a big deal. What I doubt is that this will be Meghan’s big return to duchessing. Trooping the Colour is held every June – Meghan will almost certainly go to that. June is usually a busy time for the royals, as they do lots of events around Trooping the Colour (the Queen’s official birthday) and the Queen usually goes to Balmoral at some point in July, and stays through mid-September usually. I could totally see Meghan getting out there and doing some appearances in June and July, taking off August (like, returning to maternity leave), then scheduling stuff for September and October.
Note: I’m not saying this is how it SHOULD be, and obviously I want Meghan to take as much time as she wants for her maternity leave, but I’m just predicting what I think will happen. Meghan likes to work. She won’t be doing back-to-back appearances every day in June. But we’ll absolutely be seeing her during her maternity leave.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.
What is the maternity leave law in England? She should get that and no one should say anything because maternity leave is important not just for the mom but the baby- and I think anyone who bashes ANYONE for taking what they can is a horrible human being.
Also can we stop calling what these royals do work- I think it is great they are so out there any giving press to charities and even helping them but if we don’t call the ladies who lunch and hang out in the charity world working we shouldn’t say the royals are either.
Yes, getting dressed in expensive clothes and making appearances where everyone is eager to see you isn’t what I would call work. These people also know their babies are well taken care of in beautiful homes while they are out and about.
Ok but even if they know their children are well taken care of they should be allowed maternity leave without judgement, all you have to do is look at prince charles and frankly William and Harry to see the value of a child getting to bond with their parents vs nannies.
If England offers 3 months, 6 months or a year she should be able to take what is within the law without judgement. (please note I have no idea what England’s law is, so I apologize if I got it wrong)
I absolutely agree they should be allowed maternity leave. I was a stay-at-home mom while my kids were young, it was hard work and a loss of income but I’m glad we managed it.
it varies according to employers (who can be generous) but it’s somewhere between 3 months at more or less full pay, up to a year (varying levels of pay throughout the 12 months). Most mothers seem to aim for the year, but as the last 3-6 months may be very low paid, if at all, six months tends to be the norm for lower income families.
It is work. It is 100% work. I have to do a lot of PR events and networking for my job and it is exhausting. There might nice outfits, food and booze at most of them but that doesn’t make it fun and it doesn’t make it any less exhausting. I can’t even imagine how much more intense it would be if you were the centre of attention at every event, with everyone looking at you, everyone wanting to talk to you, and everyone judging every move you make. Maintaining the facade is intense. It annoys when people say this isn’t work. It definitely is.
Yeah, I agree that we will see her before October – Trooping the Colour, a few other events over the summer, but late summer is a quiet time for the royals anyway. I imagine she will take advantage of that (the traditional vacations etc) to ease back into royal duties, I imagine by September she will be doing regular appearances again.
Well l thought that a tour to the United States was being organised for August and the baby was going with them.
I can see her soft-returning to work pretty quickly. Let’s face it, what royals do is hardly the same as having to serve food for 8 hours, or be on your feet at a store lifting things, or farming, or driving, or go to the office and listen to people prattle on when all you want is to be home with your baby or any of the million other real world jobs out there. Meghan knows that. So I see her returning sooner to a couple of engagements per month type thing.
Not that she’s not entitled to stay home. I just think she’s more self-aware and will use her platform since it will not really hinder her spending most of her time with her baby.
Gosh, I hope she doesn’t overdo it. Getting dressed, riding in cars and standing in place is really a tall order.
Yeah, nice “work” if you can get it.
She is still meeting privately with reps from the organizations she has patronages as of last week, so I don’t think she will stop working completely until the baby comes.
Was there an official notice from KP, that Meghan is on maternity leave?
There was no date given when they would be moving to Frogmore Cottage, people just assumed, when they did not move in, when they thought they would, now all these stories of delays is the new assumption.
Now it’s which hospital she will be using, do they expect her to give birth on the street?
I loved maternity leave! Plus even though her work isn’t the same as working 12 hour shifts, she will be very tired, adjusting to feeding the baby, etc… plus my body was weird, lots of bleeding…. I needed my time off. I was sleeping an hour or so here and there. It takes a while to have any energy. She should take the time she needs, I felt like a zombie.
I still feel like a zombie, my youngest is 19. Motherhood does a number.
Some weird comments here suddenly resenting what the royals have been doing for many decades when discussing Duchess Meghan’s maternity leave return while also supposedly supporting maternity leave in general.
Anywho, I think September or October as well. Unless she has twins! Then October or November
Personally I, for one, don’t “suddenly” resent what the royals have been doing for decades, I’ve always thought it was a scam. These people are kept in pampered luxury, why again?
Oh my gah – this. Why are the royals treated like this? Why do we even have royalty in the 21st century?
good point & I agree the criticism (however warranted) is not sudden.
I think she will do a few private meetings, then we will probably see her at one of the Royal Ascot events or at Trooping the Colour. I also believe that some of the paparazzi will stalk Frogmore Cottage and sneak some photos.
That’s impossible without some hardcore trespassing. They are nowhere near anywhere the public can go legally. Tours of Frogmore house (not cottage) and the cemetery are rare and always have a guide. They are only held in late July and August by appointment only.
Meghan will make whatever decision is right for her.
What concerns me is the inevitable comparison with Kate. There is a narrative that Kate doesn’t work much so she can be a hands on mother and Meghan works because she likes attention. Whenever Meghan chooses to return from maternity leave will be unfavorably compared with Kate.
@silas, well it goes both ways. Kate’s maternity leave has been much criticised and if Meghan has a shorter leave, there will be people who will compare Kate unfavourably with her (lazy, dolittle, only cares about her own family, will even probably have another baby just to get out of working, etc.).
In my opinion, they don’t really do “real work” but in so far as we are assuming that what they do is work, I think they both deserve enough leave to be able to rest, recover, and bond with their newborn.
She should take as much time as she likes. A year is the norm in Canada. And I really do think what she does is work. She’s not like a society lady who lunches because of the intense scrutiny—on frizzy hair days, bloated days, days when she’s in a bad mood. She’s in 4” heels. She can’t cancel or she disappoints hundreds. She has to make inane chitchat with strangers over and over and look fascinated at ribbon cuttings. That would get old really fast. I’ll take my 60-hr week job over this. No one is critiquing me the next day on the internet either!