London - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex used the most romantic day of the year - Valentine's Day - to confirm the happy news that they are expecting a sibling for their 21-month-old son Archie.
Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, stepped back from royal duties in January 2020 and moved with their first son Archie to Southern California to live a more independent life and escape the British media.
"We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child," the spokesperson said.
Archie was born in May 2019.
The Valentine's Day announcement was accompanied by a black and white photograph of a visibly pregnant Meghan lying on grass with one hand on her stomach and her head resting on the smiling prince's leg. The photo was taken remotely by long time friend and photographer Misan Harriman.
Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness this love story begin, and my friend, I am honoured to capture it grow. Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on this joyous news!#remoteshoot #shotonipad #shotbymisan pic.twitter.com/3iSYjydVj9
— Misan Harriman (@misanharriman) February 14, 2021
Taking to his own Twitter account, Harriman congratulated the happy couple and said: “Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness this love story begin, and my friend, I am honoured to capture it grow.
“Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on this joyous news!”
"With the tree of life behind them and the garden representing fertility, life and moving forward, they didn’t need any direction, because they are, and always have been, waltzing through life together as absolute soulmates," he told Vogue magazine.
"To be asked to help share this absolute joy after such an unimaginable loss and heartache is a marker of true friendship," Harriman added.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, Harry's father Prince Charles and the whole family were "delighted" and wished the couple well, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.
Since ending their royal duties, Harry and Meghan have continued charity work and signed TV and other media deals,launching their debut podcast in December.
Last year, Meghan revealed that she had a miscarriage in July, in an extraordinarily personal disclosure coming from a high-profile British royal.
The couple married in a glittering ceremony in 2018 that captured the world's attention but later gave up their official royal roles following disagreements with other family members and in the face of huge media attention.
Their relationship with the British press swiftly soured and the couple have launched legal cases against several newspapers.
Last week Meghan won a privacy claim against Associated Newspapers after its Mail on Sunday paper had printed extracts of a letter she wrote to her father in August 2018.