Is the mother an American citizen?
Meghan Markle is a US Citizen but she is going through a long process of gaining UK Citizenship which does not make exceptions for Royals.
As she becomes a UK Citizen, she will give up US citizenship presumably for tax purposes.
For the purposes of argument, if she retained US citizenship, her child would be a UK Citizen at the moment of birth whereas conferred US Citizenship only if she registered the child at a US Embassy immediately, else the child might need to undergo naturalization which is far-fetched in the context.
In any case, if the child was conferred US Citizenship as natural, not naturalized, the child would need to reside WITHIN the United States for 14 years. The Constitution provides no detail on how the 14-year requirement is to be satisfied, whether in one continuous stretch or broken into periods that add to 14.
The ‘Natural Born’ phrase stemmed from English Common law and was interpreted in Early American history as born to an American father because women were citizens by virtue of their marriage to a US Citizen husband. For example, many American males married tribal native Americans because white women were scarce and not adapted to harsh conditions of the Wilderness. Their children were considered ‘Natural-Born’.
In this Early American era, the contention in determining ‘Natural-Born’ that both parents had to be US Citizens was moot because the wife would automatically be a citizen by marriage even without naturalization. The process of naturalization for such wives of American citizens came later.
The history of ‘Natural-Born’ with respect to the US Constitution is essential in understanding how to judge legal ambiguity in terms and phrases. It was John Jay that influenced General George Washington to require ‘Natural-Born’ in the US Constitution for purposes of assuring LOYALTY and ALLEGIANCE to the United States, two distinct character traits that were of huge importance in the Revolutionary times of the Founders. Those traits are still just as important today but in the time of the Founding, there was a civil tension between patriots and loyalists, the requirement was essential to ensure a British loyalist would never be Commander-in-Chief of American military forces.
Back to the case of Meghan Markle, her child could be President of the United States only if the Constitution was satisfied as to ‘Natural-Born’ and 14 years of residency INSIDE the US. But then the American electorate would need to be convinced the Markle child had first and foremost the interests of Americans in mind. Although there can be a faulty foundation of this latter statement given today’s liar media. If it were to happen, I would hope there would be serious challenges in court and in public discussions about whether such a candidacy was a good idea or not.
All of this discussion of Meghan Markle’s child becoming President of the US is far-fetched.
So was Winston Churchill’s mother, but the Congress bestowed HONORARY citizenship on him.
Why would they do that if he was a natural born citizen?