Meghan ‘will go ahead with travel plans’ despite risk to pregnant women

It's set to be a mad week for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

They have in the past 24 hours landed in Sydney to begin a 16-day royal tour of Australasia, their first as a married couple. They also revealed this morning that they're expecting their first child. The official confirmation came via an announcement from Kensington Palace, revealing that they'd welcome their new arrival in the spring of 2019. It was hardly ideal timing for the announcement but the tour has been in the offing for months and so it was probably unavoidable that the news would come out around now. Among the countries that Meghan and Harry are expected to visit are the Pacific Islands of Fiji and Tonga. Current advice states that pregnant women should avoid travelling to the countries because of the risk of Zika virus there. A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess has said that on the advice of her doctor Meghan will go ahead with the visit, according to royal correspondent Rebecca English.

A spokesman said there is no change to their programme in Fiji and Tonga next week despite FCO advice that pregnant women should not travel to the region because of its moderate zika risk. They said they had sought medical and advice and decided to go ahead with their plans.

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) October 15, 2018

Ms English also reported that Meghan has had her 12-week scan and is in good health.