It looks as if Meghan Markle’s new baby will be taking its first official royal tour to her homeland, with planning said to be underway for her, Prince Harry, and their newborn baby to visit the United States and Canada in the fall of 2019.
The tour was originally scheduled to take place in the spring of 2019, but was postponed after news of Meghan’s pregnancy emerged. Now, sources have told Vanity Fair that the tour is being rescheduled for just a few months after the baby is due.
Meghan is expected to take a mere six-week maternity break after the baby is born, with the USA and Canada tour expected to be one of the first events in her calendar after she returns to official royal duties.
Planning is still at an early stage, but the tour could see Meghan return to California — where she grew up — and possibly give her the chance to meet up with old friends. The Canadian leg of her tour could also see Meghan return to Toronto, where she lived for several years while filming the TV series Suits .
It also seems likely that she will take the opportunity to meet up with her mother, Doria, while in the U.S. It is even possible that Doria could take part in some official engagements. She has already accompanied her daughter to the launch party for a charity cookbook at Kensington Palace, in London, earlier this year.
A meeting with her father, Thomas, seems less likely, however. The couple’s relationship has been strained ever since her father was caught taking part in staged paparazzi photos ahead of her wedding. He then failed to attend her big day — with her father-in-law Charles, Prince of Wales, walking her down the aisle instead.
Since then, Thomas Markle has taken part in various media engagements which are thought to have annoyed the royal family. The most recent of these was earlier this week, when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan on the U.K. breakfast TV show, Good Morning Britain . In that interview, Thomas pleaded with the queen to intervene in an attempt to try and patch up his relationship with his daughter — something unlikely to have gone down well in royal circles.
Despite the various controversies that Meghan has found herself involved in, it is reported that the queen is impressed by her work ethic — and that she is considering handing over more royal responsibilities to Meghan and Harry.
A royal tour to the United States is always a high-profile event for the royal family, and allowing Harry and Meghan to fly solo there can definitely be seen as a endorsement from the queen and other senior royals.
