When was Meghan Markle's child born and was a C-section reported (include dates)?
Executive summary
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten‑Windsor, was born on June 4, 2021 at 11:40 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a fact reported by multiple outlets and summarized in encyclopedic entries [1] [2] [3]. There is no reliable reporting in the provided sources that her birth was by Caesarean section; contemporaneous coverage described the time, place and weight but did not state a C‑section, and later public remarks by Meghan noted postpartum preeclampsia without specifying a surgical delivery [2] [3].
1. The birth: date, time and place — what the record shows
Public records and mainstream accounts state that Lilibet Diana was born at 11:40 a.m. PDT on June 4, 2021 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, and the family announced her name and birth details two days later, consistent across encyclopedia and feature reporting [1] [2] [3].
2. Official details released by the family — what was and wasn’t said
The couple’s public statement circulated in lifestyle and news outlets gave Lilibet’s birth date, time, weight and hospital, and described both mother and child as healthy and settling in at home, but did not include a description of the delivery method, and the announcement came after a two‑day interval following the birth [2] [1].
3. Medical follow‑up reported by Meghan — postpartum preeclampsia, not delivery method
Meghan has publicly disclosed that she suffered postpartum preeclampsia after the birth, which she revealed later in interviews and writing; that disclosure appears in biographical summaries and is part of the public record, but those sources do not state that the delivery itself was by Caesarean section [3].
4. Tabloid speculation and prior commentary on C‑sections — context and caveats
Before and during both pregnancies there was media speculation about delivery methods — for example, a tabloid column raised the possibility of a C‑section for Meghan’s first pregnancy in 2019 — but such pieces were conjectural and focused on perceived maternal age risk factors rather than reporting confirmed surgical births; these speculative items do not constitute evidence that Lilibet’s birth was surgical [4] [5].
5. Why the absence of a C‑section claim matters — privacy, standard reporting and limits of sources
Public figures sometimes withhold birth‑plan details for privacy, and when outlets report birth facts they typically include Caesarean information only if the family or hospital discloses it; the sources provided here record comprehensive birth details and a later medical disclosure (postpartum preeclampsia) but do not document a Caesarean delivery for Lilibet, so based on these reports a C‑section was not reported [2] [3] [1].
6. Alternative interpretations and the burden of proof
An absence of reporting in these sources does not prove a negative beyond the record’s limits — if an outlet or the medical team had publicized a surgical delivery, it would be captured in mainstream reports and biographical summaries; the material available to this review shows birth date/time/place and a postpartum complication disclosure, and explicitly lacks any reliable claim that the delivery was by Caesarean section [1] [2] [3].