Tolga Akmen -WPA Pool/Getty Images
Tolga Akmen -WPA Pool/Getty Images(NEW YORK ) — Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, made a surprise trip to New York City as she prepares for the birth of her first child.
Meghan, who is due this spring, traveled to New York this weekend on a personal trip to see friends before she has her baby, according to ABC News royal contributor Omid Scobie.
Scobie reports that Meghan is staying in a five-star hotel for a girls’ weekend. The Duchess of Sussex left London on Feb. 15 and will be in New York for five nights, according to Scobie, who wrote about Meghan’s visit for Harper’s Bazaar.
“The trip was planned some months ago and, with [with an official trip to] Morroco this weekend, is the last available time Meghan can travel before the Baby Sussex is born,” Scobie told “Good Morning America.” “Over the weekend she has been catching up with some of her closest friends, visiting favorite spots in the city and even shopping for baby clothes.”
Meghan a California native, fit the trip across the pond into a packed schedule of official engagements as she counts down her final weeks of pregnancy. She told a well-wisher last month that she is due in April.
Meghan and Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, attended the gala performance of “The Wider Earth” at the Natural History Museum in London on Feb. 12. Just a few days before, on Feb. 7, the couple walked the red carpet at the Endeavour Fund Awards.
Meghan has also been stepping out solo for her own charitable engagements, visiting all four of the charities of which she is now patron.
She and Harry are scheduled to travel to Morocco this weekend for an official visit on behalf of the British government.
News of Meghan’s private trip to New York City came just one day after the Sunday Times of London reported that Prince Harry and Prince William will split their royal household within weeks.
Harry and Meghan are expected to move soon to Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Estate, about 30 miles from London. The move means Harry and Meghan will no longer be neighbors to Prince William and Kate, who live in Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.