May birthday looking likely for baby Sussex
The Duchess of Sussex is looking set to have a May-born baby, unless her son or daughter arrives soon.
Meghan told well-wishers her due date was the end of April or early May, but royal fans are still waiting for news, with no sign of the youngster so far.
The birth stone for May is an Emerald, and the baby’s star sign will be Taurus.
The first day of the month of May is known as May Day, which stems from pagan festivals celebrating spring and fertility.
May Day is synonymous with the maypole – the spring ritual of dancing around a pole garnished with flowers and ribbons.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers.
The day is also associated with Morris dancing, the crowning of a May Queen and the arrival of a Jack-in-the-Green or a Green Man as an embodiment of spring.
The ancient Celtic feast of Beltane is traditionally held on May 1 to mark the halfway point between spring and summer.
In Oliver Cromwell’s time in the 17th century, maypole dancing was described as a “heathenish vanity” and the puritans banned it by law.
When Charles II was restored to the throne, people across the country put up maypoles in celebration and as a sign of loyalty to the crown.
May 1 is also International Workers’ Day – a public holiday in many countries – which is often marked by rallies and protests, sometimes leading to riots.
A May 1 arrival would see baby Sussex share a birthday with Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, actress Joanna Lumley, Lady Sarah Chatto – Princess Margaret’s daughter – and actor Matt Di Angelo.
Should the baby have been born before the end of April 30, the royal infant’s birthday will coincide with an appropriately American anniversary – the inauguration of the first US president George Washington in 1789.
Meghan and the Duke of Sussex have said they will only announce news of the birth once they have had time to celebrate together as a new family.
If the royal baby arrives on May 2, he or she will be born on Princess Charlotte of Cambridge’s fourth birthday.
