The Duchess of Sussex is pregnant, Kensington Palace has confirmed.
In a tweet, the palace said that Meghan and her husband Prince Harry are "very pleased" with the news.
The baby is expected in the spring next year.
He or she will be seventh in the line of succession, bumping Harry's uncle the Duke of York into eighth place.
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019. pic.twitter.com/Ut9C0RagLk
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 15, 2018
The news comes just hours after Harry and Meghan landed in Sydney at the beginning of their 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills is in Australia and said: "This tour was going to be busy enough, I think this is going to bring another exciting focus to it all."
Mills said Meghan is believed to be around 12 weeks pregnant and that close family were told on Friday, the day that Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank.
Meghan has made no secret of her ambition to be a mother, saying in a 2016 interview that it was on her "bucket list".
More from UK
On a trip to Belfast less than two months before she married Harry in May, she joked when she was shown an innovative range for newborns: "I'm sure at some point we'll need the whole (lot)."
More follows…
[contf]
[contfnew]
Sky News
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
