Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Child Be an American Citizen?

Here’s some breaking news for you: Prince Harry is British. His wife, Meghan Markle, is American. This manifests itself in various ways—like chic wedding invitations on British stationary with American ink; like living in England, but hiring an American manny; or like, maybe having a child of royal Windsor blood who’s also a citizen of a country that overthrew the monarchy!

Yes, the question of the baby’s passports is making its way around the Internet: Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby be an American citizen? Since the royal baby watch has reached a whole new level as of late (recently, a psychic used asparagus to predict the duchess would have twins), let’s dissect!

When Meghan Markle became engaged to Prince Harry, Kensington Palace told the BBC that she would become a citizen of the United Kingdom: “She intends to become a U.K. citizen and will go through the process of that, which some of you may know takes a number of years,” said their communications secretary Jason Knauf. Since Markle only wed Harry in May 2018, it’s almost certain she still remains an American citizen, which means that Baby Sussex will be born to one British parent and one American parent.

Since their child will be born on U.K. soil to a British parent, it will be a British citizen. But what does the U.S. State Department say about a baby born overseas to one American parent and one foreign parent? Here we go: “A person born abroad in wedlock to a U.S. citizen, [writer’s note, Meghan] and an alien [writer’s note, Harry] acquires U.S. citizenship at birth if the U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions prior to the person’s birth for the period required by the statute in effect when the person was born.”

That last part is a little confusing: “period required by the statute in effect when the person was born.” Basically, the rules change depending on if the baby was born before or after 1986. After 1986, the American parent must have lived in the United States for five years, at least two of which being after the age of 14. Markle, who grew up and lived in Southern California, meets this requirement.

So, yes, the baby will be an American citizen. But according to The New York Times, there’s still some paperwork required to make it official. “There’s a form that they fill out, which is called the U.S. consular report of birth abroad, and that then serves as the child’s proof of U.S. citizenship. With that, they are also eligible to apply for a passport,” Doris Meissner, a former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, told the outlet.

This is apparently fine with the British government. “You can apply for foreign citizenship and keep your British citizenship,” as written on its website. And, according to the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in the United Kingdom, an individual can hold more than one passport of differing nationalities. (Most people consider a double-passport holder a “dual citizen.” Although “U.S. law does not mention dual nationality,” there is no formal stance for or against it.)

To sum it up: if Meghan and Harry would like their child to hold an American passport, it seems like they can. But the key word is “if.” If the royal baby is an American citizen, it will be subject to American taxes—which would put financial scrutiny on the Windsor family. As CNN reports, “U.S. tax inspectors could scrutinize Harry and Meghan’s royal wealth, and the income of their newborn child.”

Plus, as the State Department points out, “Claims of other countries upon U.S. dual-nationals often place them in situations where their obligations to one country are in conflict with the laws of the other.” Will being seventh in line to the British throne and an American ever be at odds with one other?

Baby Sussex will be the first child for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and also the first Anglo-American child in the upper ranks of the British monarchy. So, in this unprecedented situation, perhaps only time will tell.