Meghan Markle has shared her top advice for expectant parents - to keep their baby name choices completely private until after birth.
During the season finale of her podcast "Confessions of a Female Founder", Meghan advised listeners to hold their name selections close.
"If you have an idea about what you are going to name that baby, you keep it so close to your heart, until that baby is born and it's named," she said firmly.
The mother of two added emphatically: "Don't ask anyone's opinion."
Meghan Markle warns parents to ‘keep baby names secret’ just as she did with Archie and Lilibet
Instagram / PA
Meghan, who shares Archie and Lilibet with Prince Harry, compared naming children to naming companies, noting the processes are "not dissimilar".
The conversation took place during Meghan's discussion with Spanx founder Sara Blakely on her Lemonada Media podcast. The two entrepreneurs explored the challenges of business ownership whilst balancing motherhood.
During their chat, Meghan compared the early stages of launching a business to creating a "SurveyMonkey" where everyone offers opinions on various aspects of the venture, including its name.
This prompted her reflection on the parallels between naming companies and children, suggesting both deserve protection from outside influence until fully established.
Meghan Markle pictured pregnant with Prince Archie
PAThe podcast, which concluded its first season with this episode, has featured Meghan in conversation with various female business founders discussing their entrepreneurial journeys.
When naming their firstborn son, the Sussexes sought something "traditional" yet "powerful even without a title in front of it," according to the biography "Finding Freedom" by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
"Archie, meaning strength and bravery, fit the bill," the authors noted.
A friend of the couple revealed they had briefly considered "Archibald" but "he was always going to be little Archie."
Meghan Markle launched the website featuring a photo of her with daughter Lilibet, three, holding hands in the California sunshineAs Ever websiteUnlike many senior royals, Archie has just one middle name - Harrison - which appropriately means "son of Harry" or "son of Henry," serving as a direct tribute to his father.
The couple welcomed Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in May 2019, when he was sixth in line to the throne.
The couple's daughter, born in June 2021, was named Lilibet Diana - combining tributes to both the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry's mother.
Lilibet was the Queen's childhood nickname, used only by her closest family members, including her parents and husband, Prince Philip.
Meghan posed a photo of Archie and Lilibet for a brand new pictureInstagram / @meghanThe choice reportedly caused controversy, with Robert Hardman's biography "Charles III: New King, New Court" claiming the Queen was "as angry as I'd ever seen her" over the matter.
Some palace sources suggested the monarch felt unable to refuse when consulted about the name.
The middle name Diana serves as a clear tribute to Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, who died in 1997.
During the podcast finale, Meghan also opened up about the physical challenges of pregnancy, revealing she had gained 65 pounds during each of her pregnancies with Archie and Lilibet.
