Is Meghan pregnant again? An intriguing clue hidden in the court date change

OPINION:

Where will you be in October 2021? If the mind-blowing, history-making insanity of the last 10 months is anything to go through, we’ve all been eaten by giant wasps or killed in an asteroid shower.

However, there is one thing we do know: within 12 months (or so), Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, could be back in the UK and sitting in high court after a London judge ruled that The royal lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday, the parent company could be postponed for mysterious reasons until then. (The case was scheduled to be heard in January 2021 at the Old Bailey.)

This is what happened.

On Friday morning (NZT), Judge Warby granted a request made by the Duchess’s attorneys in a private hearing for the case to be postponed until “much later next year” and the delay was requested “for confidential reasons. “.

In handing down the ruling, Judge Warby said: “I’m sure we can find a time in the fall in October or November when the trial can take place.”

So, just to pull out my trusty calculator here, with the case originally set for January and now to be heard in the fall of next year, take the one, divide by three, and you get … about nine months.

It’s no wonder then that social media immediately went into a minor meltdown after the decision was made on speculation that Meghan is pregnant with baby number two.

(At the time of writing, and according to Britain’s Telegraph, a royal spokesman declined to comment on the reasons for the request to postpone the hearing.)

Sussex’s drama, potential and otherwise, didn’t stop there.

Thomas, Meghan’s estranged father, submitted a witness statement to the court pressing for the trial to begin “as quickly as possible”, and the 76-year-old said: “None of my male relatives have lived past 80 years I am a realist and could die tomorrow.

“This case is causing me anxiety and I want to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

Separately, Meghan’s legal team also argued that they needed more to prepare after the court ruled in favor of the Post at a pretrial hearing last month and agreed to allow the Post’s attorneys to use the recently published Finding Freedom biography as part of your defense. .

Oh man: Father and daughter; a confidential hearing; the threat of a key player moving away from the death spiral, the intrigue revolving around an explosive biography; and a mysterious nine-month postponement … this latest court battle has more twists and turns than a Dynasty reboot written by a group of Adderall-powered interns.

We have to keep in mind that on the pregnancy front, the very, very intriguing timing of the postponement could be pure coincidence and could have absolutely nothing to do with whether Archie is about to have a younger brother or sister.

(Although we all agree that a heart-melting Sussex Bub is the balm an exhausted and anxious world needs right now.)

However, it is worth noting that the Mail on Sunday did not object to the confidential request for delay. Given the strength of his defense, it seems unlikely that he acceded to it simply out of new goodwill.

Whether or not Harry and Meghan are on the family path, Friday’s events raise the question of what it might mean for the royal family if, or perhaps when, they decide to join their family. (God knows, they have the space. Their $ 20 million Montecito mansion has nine bedrooms.)

For one thing, a new addition to the Sussex clan would likely be the first grandchild of a future sovereign born as a US citizen.

With Harry and Meghan beginning their new Californian lives of television producers and celebrities, the symbolism of them welcoming a bubble on American soil would be undeniable.

While the arrival of any little Mountbatten-Windsor would be a great cause for celebration in London, the birth of the new baby would represent a moving finality as to which side of the Atlantic it comes to claim spiritual ownership of the Sussexes.

For the palace, a possible pregnancy in Sussex would also pose a public relations threat. Since January this year, when Harry and Meghan announced that they were resigning as full-time working members of the royal family, the goodwill of the remaining hardworking RHS has been largely overshadowed by Sussex’s ongoing melodrama.

Visiting garden centers, hosting well-intentioned photo contests, and gentlemening an occasional centenarian can hardly compete with private jets, Hollywood mansions, lurking paparazzi, court cases that make headlines on two continents, semi-regular personal revelations and a constant undercurrent of tabloid noise. .

On some level, the Sussexes and their glamorous new existence were always going to suck the oxygen out of the media. No matter how much Kate, the blonde-streaked Duchess of Cambridge flirts, or she and her husband William invite David Attenborough for cream tea, they will never be as dazzling and riveting a story as the Sussex story.

The outlook is even less rosy for Prince Charles as he advances inexorably towards the throne.

The entire royal machine is built to support the monarch, and all other RHS are expected to come in an obedient and supportive line. I mean, traditionally, it’s only supposed to be one star in the real sky that matters (hint: it’s the person whose face ends in money) and no one can steal the spotlight (for too long) away from them.

But the reality is, Charles and his organic oatmeal cookie empire will always be in a pale second and dramatically overshadowed by his much more interesting and younger son and daughter-in-law.

Even if Meghan is waiting, and God knows the last thing any woman, royal or not, ever wants to deal with is incessant, breathless speculation about pregnancy, the delay in having her case heard is a bad news for the palace.

Judge Warby’s ruling means that 2021 will be affected by this ongoing court drama that has pitted Markle against Markle. (What are the chances that Thomas will quietly bide his time and remain schtum until the Mail’s attorneys arrive in court?)

Friday’s enigmatic postponement means that next year appears to be equally affected by this legal drama, news that surely no real press secretary would welcome. Rather, the ruling means to them that sparking public interest in dignified but dismal real excursions to suburban recreation centers in the future has become much more difficult.

(There is a caveat here. Meghan’s lawyers also requested a summary judgment in the case which, if granted, would end the trial and instead the matter would be heard by a judge who would consider issues of law. This hearing is set. for January 12 and 13 of next year).

In September, the Duke and Duchess announced that they had signed a massive deal with Netflix that would allow them to earn up to $ 130 million to produce television shows and documentaries. While there have been scant details about the projects they have in the pipeline for the streaming giant, the couple’s real life is already generating a truly gripping visualization.

If 2020 constituted the first season of The Sussex, I think we can say with confidence that the second season is going to be positively binge-worthy.

Daniela Elser is a real expert and writer with more than 15 years of experience