Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Planning On Having Another Baby After Finishing Home Renovations, Say Oddsmakers
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry aren’t done with children after welcoming Prince Archie Harrison, the Daily Express reports. At least, that’s the opinion of bookmakers taking action on this rather specific gambling proposition.
In the U.K. and Ireland, you can place legal bets on just about any proposition, not just the outcomes of sporting events or turns of cards or spins of slot reels. You can place bets on the outcomes of TV shows, for example, or possible political events (lots of pounds and euros are changing hands on whether or not Donald Trump will be impeached, for example).
And in the European legal betting market, births and baby names are a big deal. Look no further than the current action on Meghan and Harry’s next baby — the ink is barely dry on Prince Archie’s birth certificate, and already oddsmakers are taking action on whether or not they’ll have a second baby.
Specifically, as of this writing, the odds are 2:1 — that is, wager an amount, get twice that and your original wager back if you win — that Meghan will announce a second pregnancy before the end of 2020. And you can get 10:1 that they’ll announce a second pregnancy before the end of 2019; should you wager that they’re going to hold off until 2021, the odds are a paltry 6:4.
According to the Daily Express, the thinking is that Harry and Meghan will start trying for a second baby once they’re finished with the renovations of their new home, Frogmore Cottage, on which they’ve already spent $3 million. Reportedly, the couple has raised the ire of the British press in the process.
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's birthday wish for Prince William has been deemed "cold and impersonal" by the internet. https://t.co/J56nAdFvb2
— E! News (@enews) June 21, 2019
Bookmaker Alan Alger is clear that the betting public is largely convinced that the Frogmore renovations are going to delay the next royal baby, for some period of time.
“Once Harry and Meghan have settled down after the arrival of Archie in early May, everyone will be guessing as to whether and when the next one will be on its way. Significant renovations suggest that Frogmore Cottage is going to be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s residence for a long time,” he said.
If history teaches us anything, it’s that Harry and Meghan are all but duty-bound to have a second baby. For centuries, the tradition in the British aristocracy has held that parents have “an heir and a spare,” which is to say, one child to inherit the parents’ money, lands, and titles, and another just in case. Prince Harry is himself a “spare,” a reality he’s had to grapple with throughout his life.
But then again, whether or not (and when) to have a baby is an intensely personal decision that Harry and Meghan will make or not make as they see fit.
