Most of us figured out that the Duchess of Sussex was pregnant when we saw her fuller face and her loose navy coat at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in October 2018. Meghan did not announce her pregnancy until two days after Eugenie’s wedding though, and the Sussexes announced it then because they were already flying out to begin their South Pacific Tour. As it turns out, Meghan was “just under twelve weeks pregnant” when the tour began, which is around the time most women do start telling people (between the third and fourth month). But people took issue with Meghan’s timing overall, especially since there were widespread tabloid stories that Meghan was going around telling the Windsors about her pregnancy AT Eugenie’s wedding. Which, if true, would have been slightly off-side and I could see why the Yorks might be mad about it, if it happened like that. So is that what really happened? From Finding Freedom:

Meghan, expecting in the spring of 2019, was just under twelve weeks pregnant when the [South Pacific] tour began. But a Palace aide said Harry and Meghan were comfortable with the decision to announce the news early to avoid an entire trip of speculation around whether Meghan was pregnant. “She was already showing, and hiding it would not have been possible,” the aide said. “The rumors would have dominated the coverage and taken away from the entire purpose of the tour. Meghan didn’t want that.”

(The timing of the announcement might have worked with the tour, but it conflicted with another happy royal event: Princess Eugenie’s wedding. Family members had found out about the pregnancy just days prior, at the wedding of Harry’s closest cousin. It did not go down particularly well with Eugenie, who a source said told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news.)

[From Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family]

Well, that answers that – Meghan was telling people for the first time at the wedding, but it was more like a confirmation because she was already showing. I mean, I understand Meghan and Harry’s perspective that it is what is and it’s not like they could hide it. But I also understand Eugenie’s perspective that it was thunder-stealing on her wedding day. This is likely why the Yorks left their fingerprints on several of the smears on Meghan following the wedding too, in my opinion.

FF also says that Eugenie and Harry are particularly close and that Harry often confided in Eugenie about his girlfriends. They also report that Eugenie is the one who introduced Harry to her friend Cressida. Still, FF says that Eugenie embraced Meghan early on and Eugenie and Jack went on several double-dates with H&M.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, Backgrid.