It's a boy! Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, gives birth to royal baby

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, gave birth to a boy on Monday, the Duke of Sussex has announced. Prince Harry said they were both "absolutely thrilled" and thanked the public for their support during the pregnancy. He said Meghan and the baby were doing "incredibly well". The duke said they were still thinking about names for the infant, who was delivered at 05:26 am (local time) on Monday.

Earlier, Meghan went into labor in her 41st week of pregnancy, one week past her due date. She was last seen in public in March and waited out her pregnancy at home at Frogmore Cottage with her mother, Doria Ragland, and Prince Harry.

Baby Sussex, as the child is known ahead of its birth, will be a product of two cultures: its father a prince who is a symbol of Britain; its mother quintessentially American -- a self-made TV star with a white father and an African American mother.

"It's quite possible the child will have a lot of American influence," royal commentator Hugo Vickers said. "The royal family is not totally unused to that kind of thing. Children have been born with Greek mothers or German mothers in the past, obviously, but Meghan is the first American mother so close in the royal family." Certainly, Meghan isn't following any of the royal scripts when it comes to childbirth preparations.

Unlike Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Kate, Harry and Meghan have chosen to keep the details about their baby planning private , despite ? or perhaps because of ? intense media interest in the baby's arrival, expected in the next few weeks.

The couple haven't revealed where Meghan intends to give birth, so there isn't likely to be a 24/7 media stakeout outside the hospital as was the case for the births of William and Kate's three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

(With AP inputs)