Meghan Markle Faces Conspiracy-Led Abuse Over Child’s Identity as Queen Abolishes Birth Verification Protocol

The birth of Meghan Markle's first child, Archie Harrison, was shrouded in controversy and conspiracy theories.

It was claimed that the Duchess of Sussex had used a surrogate to have Archie and had faked her pregnancy.

These baseless accusations contributed to an onslaught of abuse directed at Meghan, which she subsequently said negatively impacted her mental health.

However, Meghan is not the first member of the Royal Family to have faced such accusations.

In 1688, there was speculation that King James II's wife, Mary of Modena, was not really pregnant.

In order to verify the baby's legitimacy, the King invited 42 prominent public figures to witness the birth of his son James Francis Edward at St. James's Palace.

Despite having 42 witnesses, the birth was still subject to question and doubt.

There was gossip that the baby was smuggled into the bedchamber in a warming pan or had been sneaked into the bed through a secret door in the bedhead.

The rumours seemed to prevail, cementing a question mark over the baby's legitimacy, and James Francis never became king.

After this, government officials continued to be present at royal births – supposedly to verify it.

The custom was not abolished until 1948, shortly before the birth of Prince Charles.

In doing so, the Queen did away with the outdated rule and paved the way for greater privacy and decency for royal mothers.

Despite the Queen's wishes to respect royal mothers' privacy, Meghan was still the victim of vile trolls calling her pregnancy into question, regressing to 17th-century gossip.

Traditionally, the Home Secretary would attend royal births.

This has not happened since 1936 when the Queen's cousin Princess Alexandra was born.

When the Queen was born in 1926, Home Secretary William Joynson Hicks was present, despite the government being embroiled in a troubling row with coal miners.

It was also customary for the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend the births of royal children, but this too has been done away with.

Historically, royal babies were born at home, but it has become increasingly normal for members of the royal family to go to hospital.

Both Diana, Princess of Wales and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge chose the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London for their labour.

Meanwhile, Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie and Meghan chose the Portland Hospital, also in London.

Meghan made royal history last year when she gave birth to her daughter, Lilibet Diana.

Lilibet was the first of the Queen's great-grandchildren to be born overseas – she was born at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, just over a year after Meghan and her husband Prince Harry stepped down from their positions in the firm and relocated to North America.

Lilibet, who is named after the Queen, celebrated her first birthday in the UK last month.

It marked the young royal's first visit to her father's home country.

In other news, the chances of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle getting re-invited to join the British royal family again are slim to none, as per a royal expert quoted by Mirror UK.

Royal expert Neil Sean took to his YouTube account to state that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are bound to be replaced by other members of the royal family as the firm looks to utilise those already working for it to step forward instead of the Sussexes.

As per Sean, as we've seen over the last 18 months, for Harry and Meghan, it's proven a very difficult transitional period.

He explained, Harry and Meghan really felt that at some point, they would have to return because they thinned down the monarchy.

But they have decided not to re-invite Harry and Meghan back.

Sean continued, it's other members of the British monarchy who are stepping forward and showing their mettle.

One, in particular, is the husband of Princess Anne, Admiral Tim Lawrence.