Why Meghan Markle’s Maternity Leave Was Much Longer Than Kate Middleton’s

Meghan Markle just returned to work last week after taking a four-month maternity leave past Archie's birth.

Royal fans initially thought that the Duchess of Sussex’s maternity leave was much shorter than the Duchess of Cambridge. After all, Prince Harry’s wife gave birth on May 6, and she officially returned to her royal engagements this month. This means that she was on leave for only four months.

But according to Express, the maternity leave of Prince William’s wife was shorter compared to Markle. Following Prince George’s birth in 2013, Middleton only went on a break from her royal duties for an entire month. Shortly after, she already returned to work.

However, after she gave birth to Prince Louis, Middleton took her longest maternity leave to date. At that time, she was absent from her royal engagements for seven months.

The publication claimed that the maternity leave of female royals is something that they have to decide on themselves. There is no problem if a female member of the royal family wants to take a longer maternity leave due to valid reasons such as their health.

Meanwhile, since Markle and Prince Harry have not returned to work, they have also announced their upcoming schedule. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be traveling to South Africa on Sept. 3 for their first overseas tour as a family of three.

Their son, Archie, will also be part of the trip. On the Sussex Royal Instagram account, the couple said that they are looking forward to introducing their son to the public.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were recently criticized for hiding their son from the public. The couple didn’t immediately introduce Archie to the world after he was born.

Prince Harry and Markle have also decided to keep their son’s christening private. As of late, Archie’s godparents’ identities haven’t been revealed.