Has Meghan Markle already given birth? All of the wildest Baby Sussex fan theories

From a 'hippy birth' to left-field name choices and possible twins, we round up all of the speculation surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's expected arrival

In January, Meghan Markle let slip she was expecting an April baby, so fans are speculating that Baby Sussex could already be here. Reuters

The Duchess of Sussex's April due date has now been and gone without an official birth announcement, so naturally keen royal watchers have gone into rumour overdrive, speculating the whereabouts of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's newborn.

Unlike the children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Harry and Meghan have chosen to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. That means there will be no press lining the street outside the hospital, nor a photo call with the new arrival mere hours after the birth.

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby," a Kensington Palace statement from mid-April read. "Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private ... The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to "celebrate privately as a new family" before announcing their baby news. AP

What do we know?

In January this year, the duchess let slip that the baby was due in April, after the palace had confirmed it would be a spring arrival.

Now, we don't know for sure that the baby isn't here; last week, an ambulance was seen outside their Frogmore Cottage home for several hours. At the time of writing, however, there had been no public announcement.

Since the parked-up ambulance was spotted, Prince Harry was on the London Marathon finish line, handing out medals, which has led many a royal watcher to assume the baby isn't here – as he would be on paternity leave for at least a fortnight following the birth.

As the royal family stays quiet on the tot's arrival, fans have been busy theorising. Here are some of the wildest  theories surrounding the little one's arrival: 

1. It's not a Royal baby but Royal babies 

Fans seem to be convinced the couple is expecting twins. Naturally, this has not been confirmed but it has been widely discussed on Twitter.

Although a full-term due date makes the possibility of twins look a little slimmer, fans are still holding out hope:

Also, just last week an asparamancer (someone who can predict the future using the vegetable asparagus, yes you read correctly) deduced that twins were on their way, live on British television show, This Morning. The asparamancer in question, Jemima Packington, also predicted an April birth, so take from that what you will.

"One boy, one girl," Packington predicted on the morning TV show.

Watch her TV prediction here: 

2. The baby is already here 

Perhaps Packington's asparagus was correct. Fans seem sure that the royal tot has already been born, following a visit from the Queen to Frogmore Cottage this week, shortly after a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Plus, Meghan Markle's mother has been in the UK for a few weeks, "to be by her daughter's side" during labour.

True to form, fans have had their say on Twitter:

3. URLs hinting at possible baby names 

What is in a URL? Well, for members of the British royal family, an awful lot. Young or old, each member of the Firm has their own landing page, with a biography and photos. The URLs all follow roughly the same format; younger royals are styled with their title and name, for example Prince Louis's is royal.uk/prince-louis, Princess Charlotte is royal.uk/princess-charlotte and Prince Harry is royal.uk/prince-harry. While older royals typically go solely by the titles, the Queen, for example is royal.uk/her-majesty-the-queen and Kate Middleton is royal.uk/the-duchess-of-cambridge.

So, using the younger royals' URL format, speculating fans have tried to work out if any have been taken based on the most likely name choices, and their research has led them to believe that a little boy is on his way.

Arthur, James and Alexander are all thought to be popular name choices, and when you try royal.uk/prince-arthur, royal.uk/prince-james or royal.uk/prince-alexander you are automatically redirected to the family's homepage.

However when you try royal.uk/princess-victoria, royal.uk/prince-philip, royal.uk/princess-alice you land on a page that reads, "Page not found". Ditto other front runner names, including Diana, Grace and Elizabeth.

The redirection has caused fans to speculate that websites are being built for the royal-to-be, perhaps named James, Arthur or Alexander.

There is no page for a Princess Victoria at the moment.

4. It could have a far-from-traditional name 

There is also the theory that this baby could have a more unique name.

Reports are now speculating that Allegra could be a possible name for a baby girl. In fact, the Italian word for happiness has had a last-minute surge in popularity.

"We wouldn't be surprised to see the name right up there with the front-runners by the time the birth gets announced," a source said to Vanity Fair, adding: "We're scratching our heads as to why we've seen so much interest in Allegra, but ... it's been by far the most popular pick of the month".

5. She's going 'full hippy mum'

Harry and Meghan have already proven that they aren't afraid to start their own traditions as a couple. So, it's not too far fetched to think that the self-described yogi may opt for a doula rather than a traditional midwife. Royal fans seem to particularly like this theory...