Prince Harry to visit Netherlands in latest hint royal baby birth is imminent

The Duke of Sussex is scheduled to visit the Netherlands next week suggesting the royal baby could arrive any day now.

On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace announced Prince Harry will visit the Netherlands on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 May 2019.

“While in The Netherlands, The Duke will undertake an official engagement in Amsterdam,” a statement from the Palace reads.

“His Royal Highness will then travel to The Hague to officially launch the one year countdown to the Invictus Games The Hague 2020.”

While the visit doesn't necessarily mean the royal baby is due before the prince's trip, it seems unlikely the royal would risk missing the birth of his first child. As a result, the dates of the visit may suggest the royal baby is due before Harry's official engagement.

The news comes after reports that a number of bookmakers have reportedly suspended bets on the Duchess of Sussex giving birth tomorrow.

A spokesperson for bookmakers.tv says: “There have been an abnormal number of bets on Meghan giving birth tomorrow, Thursday 2 May, forcing bookies to stop taking bets on the market altogether.

"Ever since this morning, the stream of bets led bookies to believe that perhaps the punters, or an inside source, knows something more than the industry.”

Earlier this week, the prince attended the London Marathon in his role as Patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust. During the race, he later congratulated men's winner, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge and women's winner Kenya's Brigid Kosgei.

While Harry is scheduled to take the overseas trip, he is entitled to take paternity leave following the birth of his child and he wouldn’t be the first royal to do so.

In 2013, the Duke of Cambridge took two weeks paternity leave following the birth of Prince George, and again after the arrival of Princess Charlotte in 2015.

However, when Prince Louis was born in April last year, Prince William returned to work just two days later to attend an Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey.

In October, Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were expecting their first child, due in spring 2019. However, few details have since been shared with the public as to the exact due date of the birth.

It was widely believed that Meghan Markle was due to give birth last month.

Last month, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power revealed its predictions for Markle's due date, with odds of the royal baby arriving during the week of Monday 29 April at 3-1.

The news followed an announcement from Buckingham Palace that revealed the royal couple had decided 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,” a statement read.

Earlier this week, Oprah Winfrey expressed her pride in Meghan Markle’s plan for the birth of the royal baby.

The media mogul, who was a guest at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal wedding in May 2018, attended The Hollywood Reporter's inaugural Empowerment in Entertainment Gala in Hollywood last night on Tuesday.

During the event, Winfrey was questioned about the duchess' choice to turn away from royal convention by keeping the birth of her first child private.

"Oh my god, I'm so proud of her decisions," the 65-year-old told Entertainment Tonight.

"Do you know, to be able to stand up and say this is what I really want for my baby and my family and I’m going to do it a different way, when it’s been done that way for a thousand years?"

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