Prince Harry urged his wife to take a break during their gruelling tour schedule before attending an Invictus Games medal ceremony solo.
The Duke of Sussex met competitors and presented medals without Meghan on Sunday morning, after the opening ceremony ran late into the night.
Kensington Palace said the couple had decided to cut back Meghan’s schedule ‘slightly’ ahead of the couple’s visit to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
Meghan – who is thought to be around 12 weeks pregnant – and Harry are part-way through their intense 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, with 76 events on their schedule.
A spokesman for the palace said: ‘After a busy programme, The Duke and Duchess have decided to cut back The Duchess’s schedule slightly for the next couple of days, ahead of the final week-and-a-half of the tour.’
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Earlier, a royal source said the duchess was ‘not sick, just tired’ and was keen to take part in everything.
The source added: ‘We have to try to pace her. We have to make sure she is well paced and not overdoing it.
‘She had a very late night last night.
‘She wants to do everything, but Prince Harry is encouraging her to pace herself.’
The baby news was announced on the eve of the duke and duchess’s first official visit outside the UK and Ireland.
The source added: ‘We want to make sure she gets enough rest at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day.
‘If it has been a very late night due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to adjust for that.’
Harry met competitors of the road cycling at Sydney’s Domain on Sunday morning before he was asked to sign a pair of ‘budgie smugglers’ – the Aussie name given to men’s small swimming trunks.
Disabled sports presenter Dylan Alcott and two members of the Australian Invictus Games team at Admiralty House told him to put the budgie smugglers on which to their surprise he willingly did – but only over his jeans.
Meghan joined Harry later in the day on Sunday, attending a reception at the Pavilion Restaurant in the Domain for Invictus competitors, their families and friends hosted by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The couple had a busy Saturday, starting off with the opening of an extension to the Anzac memorial in Hyde Park, then on to Cockatoo Island to watch the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge as part of Invictus.
On Saturday night, Harry officially opened the Games for wounded soldiers at a ceremony on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.
The event was delayed slightly following thunderstorms in the city and eventually overran by two hours.
In his speech, Harry hailed what he called the ‘Invictus Generation’ who have shown ‘the true meaning of resilience’.
Some 500 competitors from 18 countries will take part in the fourth iteration of the games in Australia, after similar events in London, Florida and Toronto.
Harry and Meghan will next travel to Fraser Island, off the coast of Queensland, with Monday’s planned engagements including a visit to Lake McKenzie and a walkabout on the Kingfisher Bay.
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