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These Are The Royal Pregnancy Rules Meghan Markle Has To Follow

Of course, Meghan and Harry have a knack for breaking tradition.

Asia McLain
by Asia McLain

BuzzFeed Staff

1. No baby showers — that's right, you won't find any royal baby registries at Target!

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While baby showers are extremely common in the US and UK, royal moms-to-be aren't typically allowed to participate in them. According to The Mirror, because of the royal family's wealth, accepting gifts for the baby is considered inappropriate.

2. Absolutely NO revealing the gender until the baby is born.

Kensington Royal / Via instagram.com

Yep — according to UK Marie Claire, it's standard procedure for royals to stay mum (Ha! Wow.) about the sex of the baby on board. In fact, typically, the expectant parents are kept in the dark as well. Princess Diana was one of the few royals who found out the sex during her pregnancies, and she still didn't tell Charles!

3. There WILL be midwives, midwives everywhere — and they'll be sworn to secrecy and...sobriety?

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Though Meghan will likely deliver in a hospital, she will have a team of midwives at her bedside in addition to doctors, nurses, and the royal gynecologist. Sources claim that Princess Kate's three midwives were on call during her entire last three months and were not allowed to drink alcohol at all during that dry-mester.

4. No body-conscious clothing and ABSOLUTELY NO CLEAVAGE!

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Even though pregnancy fashion has evolved past the typical maternity dress, this is a rule that carries over from the royals' day-to-day life. According to Reader's Digest, royal women are not allowed to show cleavage as it sends the wrong message and have to be even more careful during pregnancy, when bosoms are typically um, enhanced.

5. And while we're at it, Meghan's toes must remain covered in public no matter what — that's right, no flip flops to ease those swollen preggo feet, eek!

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Yep — this is a pretty hard and fast rule of royal fashion. But anyone who's been pregnant knows that the foot swelling can be really uncomfortable. So it'll be Queen Elizabeth vs. cankles, perhaps. We'll see who wins.

6. Queen Elizabeth II must be the FIRST to know when the baby is born — before the couple is even allowed tell their own parents!

Kensington Royal / Via instagram.com

According to Newsweek, royal protocol requires the royal couple to inform the queen of the birth first, then AND ONLY THEN may they announce it to their parents, friends, etc...after all, the queen is queen for a reason.

7. Then there will have to be an official announcement of the baby's birth mounted on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.

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Though royal birth announcements now make their way to social media also, there is still a framed announcement displayed which notes the sex of the baby and the date and time they were born.

8. There will be an actual 62-gun salute to celebrate the baby's arrival, too.

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Yup — as with William and Kate's children, Baby Sussex (Baby Wales? Little Meghan? I dunno) will receive the full royal fanfare from the Tower of London, which takes about ten minutes to complete.

9. The baby MUST wear the same christening gown as the royal babies that came before.

Kensington Royal/Matt Holyoak / Via instagram.com

The original gown was worn by 62 babies before it was finally retired in 2004. George, Charlotte, and Louis all wore a replica of the gown to their christenings, and Meghan and Harry's baby will likely do the same.

10. A long maternity leave is supported, encouraged, and expected.

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Like Princess Kate who took five months off after Louis was born, royal moms usually take around six months of leave in which all royal duties are suspended. And Meghan won't be the only one taking time off — Harry will likely receive a shorter unpaid leave as well.

11. And lastly, Meghan MUST take an unfairly glamorous photo right after childbirth presenting the royal baby to the public — so that the rest of us can make fun of how we did NOT look like that right after childbirth.

OK, Mommy Meghan — got it all? We believe in you and can't wait for that baby!

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CORRECTION

An earlier version of this post included rules reported elsewhere that have been debunked (including this one by BuzzFeed News). The debunked rules have been removed from the post.