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Don't look for Duchess Meghan to pose for the cameras hours after giving birth to her first child in late April or early May because it's not going to happen.
Buckingham Palace announced in a statement Thursday morning that she and Prince Harry plan on keeping the birth "private" for a while before announcing the news to the public.
"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," the statement reads.
"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."
In short, it will be at least several days before they appear in public with the "American royal baby," and it won't be in London.
Royal baby predictor: Guess birthday, gender and name of Harry and Meghan's baby
The announcement marks a major shift from the media hoopla that surrounded the arrivals of previous royal babies, like those of Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, Prince Louis, nearly 1 – and even William and Harry themselves three decades ago.
In each of those cases, Duchess Kate and Princess Diana before her stood on the steps of St. Mary's Hospital in London, cradling their new babies within roughly 24 hours of delivery. When Kate gave birth to Louis, her third child, last April, she was camera-ready within eight hours.
Even before them, senior royals have chosen St. Mary's to deliver their babies, dating to the birth of Queen Elizabeth II's two eldest grandchildren, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips, to her daughter Princess Anne in 1977 and 1981, respectively.
But the American-born duchess, the former Meghan Markle, is not going to do things the way her sister-in-law, Duchess Kate of Cambridge, has done them, nor does she have to endure the "goldfish bowl" scene at the hospital. Unlike Kate, Meghan is not going to be a future queen consort, and her baby is not going to sit on the throne.
The baby, whose gender the couple claims not to know, will be seventh in line to the throne behind Harry, who is sixth unless Prince William and Duchess Kate produce a fourth child.
But the Sussex baby will be unprecedented: He or she will be the first half-American royal baby and the first royal baby of mixed race: Meghan's father is white, her mother is black. It's only one of the reasons why there is so much public interest in the birth.
Harry and Meghan, however, have already demonstrated they seek privacy: The couple, who wed last May at Windsor Castle, recently moved from Kensington Palace in London to Frogmore Cottage on the castle estate, a more secluded and high-security home, located about 22 miles west of the capital.
They also seek some protection from the paparazzi and from ravenous, worldwide public interest in them and their baby, who will be the queen's eighth great-grandchild. In the last few weeks, media coverage has been especially intense, dominated by contradictory and unconfirmed claims about where the baby will be born, who will be in attendance, and under what circumstances.
Throughout, Buckingham Palace (Harry and Meghan's new office base) has been silent – until Thursday's announcement. But it still leaves some questions – questions the British media, such as the tabloids The Sun, The Express and the Daily Mail, and even the more respectable publications, such as The Telegraph, are rushing to answer.
Exactly where will the birth take place? In a different hospital near Windsor or at a National Health Service birthing center nearby? Will the queen's team of doctors be in attendance (as they were for Kate's children) or will she have a traditional doula to help her deliver?
Even more intriguing: Is Meghan really considering giving birth at home at Frogmore Cottage? If so it would be the first royal home birth since the queen delivered her four children at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House starting in 1948 and ending in 1964. (In fact, for most of British royal history, home births were the rule: The queen herself was born at her maternal grandparents' home in London's posh Mayfair neighborhood in 1926.)
Meghan will be 37, going on 38, when the baby is expected in late April or early May.
She's had an untroubled pregnancy so far and is in good shape thanks to daily yoga and healthy eating, so there's no reason not to expect a safe delivery in the comfort of her newly renovated manor house, according American "friends" of Meghan cited by The Daily Mail.
And what happens after the baby is born? Will the palace issue its usual one-sentence statement on social media announcing the baby's gender and weight? Will the traditional notice be posted at the Buckingham Palace gates? Will the baby's name and title (if any) be announced a few days later, as is usual?
Not yet clear. One thing known for sure: The landmark London Eye will glow in the red, white and blue colors of the British (and American) flag when the baby arrives.
Opinion: How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can take the pressure off women who've just had a baby
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