Meghan Markle is preparing to give birth to her first child with Prince Harry sometime in the next few days, and it’s just been revealed that she’s planning to break a major royal tradition when she does so.

There is a royal tradition of posing for photos outside the maternity ward of the Lindo Wing just hours after a new baby is born. Princess Diana did this after the births of both Harry and Prince William, and Kate Middleton has done this with each of her three children.

That’s why it came as a surprise when Buckingham Palace announced that Meghan would not be participating in the traditional photo op, and will instead celebrate the birth of her child “privately.”

“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 palace said in a statement. “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.”

Richard Fitzwilliams pointed out that this has been a royal tradition ever since Diana started it.

“Royal births that attracted enormous attention became identified with the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s and began with the iconic poses when Charles and Diana and later William and Kate showed off their new babies to the world’s press,” he said.

“William was the first heir to the throne to be born in a hospital,” he continued. “This was symbolic of a move away from the tradition that royals were born in palaces and a change to the pattern of royal parenting which included taking William on Charles and Diana’s visit to the Antipodes when he was only 9 months old. It did become something of a circus.”

Fitzwilliams added that since Meghan appears to be planning on giving birth at home, she is actually returning to the older royal tradition of giving birth.

“Meghan’s return to the royal tradition of giving birth at home in so intimate a moment, as royal babies used to be born in palaces, also links with Harry’s fiercely protective instincts,” he said.

What do you think about Meghan’s birth plans? Let us know in the comments section.