Harry and Meghan: Newest royal baby could be an American

What would the founding fathers think? Almost 250 years after the United States launched a revolution to rid itself of the British royal family, the next royal baby could be an American.

The idea that a scion of the former colonies would be seventh in line to succeed Queen Elizabeth II to the throne could change the royal family from within and help extend a surge in popularity for the monarchy.

The child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle became a duchess when she wed Prince Harry a year ago is due very soon.

Baby Sussex, as the child is known ahead of its birth, will be a product of two cultures: its father a prince who is a symbol of Britain; its mother quintessentially American a self-made TV star with a white father and an African American mother.

The child is unlikely to ever become king or queen, but the presence of a half-American child who may choose to hold dual nationality could shake up the royal family, just as the arrival of Meghan has had a modernizing effect on the stately but sometimes stodgy House of Windsor.

"It's quite possible the child will have a lot of American influence," royal commentator Hugo Vickers said. "The royal family is not totally unused to that kind of thing. Children have been born with Greek mothers or German mothers in the past, obviously, but Meghan is the first American mother so close in the royal family."