The Duchess of Sussex was reportedly secretly taken to a private hospital to gave birth.

Duchess and Duke of Sussex

Duchess and Duke of Sussex

The 37-year-old former actress - who was known as Meghan Markle before her marriage to Prince Harry - and her husband welcomed a son into the world on Monday (06.05.19), but it is believed they had to alter their plan for a home birth at their Frogmore Cottage residence in Windsor, Berkshire, South East England.

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, Meghan and Harry were accompanied by their security team to a London hospital on Sunday (05.05.19), with the trip kept so tightly under wraps, even senior members of the royal family weren't told.

The duchess stayed in overnight before her baby was born at 5.26am on Monday.

Royal officials declined to comment on the news, but when an official birth announcement was placed in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, in keeping with tradition, it notably did not mention the medical team who delivered the baby, as is customary with such notices.

The typewritten note - which was in a gold frame - simply stated: "The Queen and the Royal Family are delighted at the news that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex was safely delivered of a son at 05.26am today. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well."

Shortly after the couple confirmed their son had been born via Instagram, Harry, 34, spoke with reporters and hailed the birth as an "amazing experience.

He said: "I'm very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a baby boy earlier this morning, a very healthy boy. Mother and baby are doing incredibly well. It's been the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined.

"How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension, but we're both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there. It's been amazing, so I just wanted to share this with everybody...

"I haven't been at many births, this is definitely my first birth but it was amazing, absolutely incredible.

"I'm so incredibly proud of my wife and as every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing, but this little thing is absolutely to die for so I'm just over the moon."