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When The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were expecting their first child in mid October, us Aussies immediately claimed the baby as our own.
One of us, one of us, we chanted, because the royal couple announced their baby news in Sydney, meaning it is ours.
But turns out, no, we’re not that special, because there’s an unlikely person who knew about the 37-year-old’s pregnancy months before the rest of us.
Even before the royal family, who were reportedly told at dear cousin Princess Eugenie’s wedding.
That person is fashion designer Don O’Neill.
By all accounts, this man isn’t one of the Duchess’ closest confidants. It’s likely they’ve never even met.
Don is, however, the creative director of Theia, the couture fashion label who dressed Meghan for the state dinner on the Tonga leg of their 16-day Australia and South Pacific royal tour.
The dress custom designed for Meghan was a version of the label's ivory crepe column gown, featuring flanged shoulders, cap sleeves, a side slit (which is against royal protocol, but meh) and embroidered appliques of crystals and micro glass beads.
On the night, Meghan wore the floor-length with black closed toe stilettos and a subtle tribute to her late mother-in-law, the same emerald-cut aquamarine ring from Princess Diana’s jewellery collection we first saw Meghan wear to her wedding reception in May.
In an interview with People, the gown's designer said he and his team were thrilled to receive the call to design for the former Suits actress... even though it was a week out from their April, 2018 bridal runway show.
“When her stylist reached out to inquire if I could make a dress for her Australian press tour, I stopped everything we were doing, my bridal show was just a week away, and immediately went to work on Her Royal Highness’ gown,” Don said.
The publication reports the Theia team made the gown in two days and had it shipped to Meghan, only to have it come back with a telling alteration request.
"We needed to remake it with extra seam allowance. We knew immediately why this extra allowance was required, but mum’s the word, and with less than one week to my bridal show, all hands were on deck once more."
By our calculations, the duchess probably wasn't pregnant at the time, but was probably planning to be in the near future. According to Kensington Palace, Prince Harry and Meghan will welcome their first child 'in the spring' of 2019, likely in March, April or May.
Side note - here are the highlights from Prince Harry and Meghan's royal tour so far. Bless them. Post continues after video.
Theia isn't the only fashion label that was asked to include a seam allowance into designs for the duchess.
British label Self Portrait, who designed the red pleated floral midi dress Meghan wore upon arriving at Fua’amotu Airport in Nuku’alofa, were also discretely told to allow for extra room in the seam around the same time as Theia were.
Hello! Magazine's royal editor Emily Nash pointed this out on Sunrise on Friday morning while the rest of the world was focused on Meghan's 'wardrobe malfunction' - a price tag hanging out, we've all been there, yeah?
“(Meghan) had a little entourage of people who were looking out for her, and the tag was just a very unfortunate error,” Nash told Sunrise, News.com.au reports.
“For me, the most interesting thing about it was that the Creative Director was actually asked to design it back in April with a flexible seam, which suggests they knew a Baby Sussex might have been in the making.”
Kensington Palace announced Meghan’s pregnancy on October 15, just hours after the couple arrived in Sydney for the start of their royal tour.
Do you care about the royals more than you thought you would since they first arrived in Australia? Tell us in the comments!