Royal family will not release official merchandise line to mark Meghan and Harry's baby's birth

Unofficial merchandise including tea towels, babygros and mugs celebrating the expected royal baby - believed to be due any day - are flooding online retail outlets. However, the Royal Collection Trust based at St James Palace, which issues memorabilia to mark special occasions relating to the Royal Family, said it will not release an official line of merchandise to mark the arrival of the new baby.

The couple - who are known as the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton in Scotland and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in England - have said that the birth will not be announced immediately, instead maintaining that the news will be kept under wraps until they have had a chance to celebrate privately.

Lines of merchandise have been on sale by the Royal Collection Trust following the birth of all three of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children - George, Charlotte and Louis. Among the items create to mark Prince Louis's birth last year were an official commemorative pillbox at £35.00 and a pram decoration at £14.95

Items such as this babygro are already being produced to mark the royal birth, which has not yet taken place.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "We have no new ranges to announce."

Unofficially, however, royal fans have a large choice of souvenirs, which is only likely to increase further after the babyis born.On retail site eBay, a royal baby tea towel is on sale for £13.99, featuring a picture of a traditional pram and the year "2019", surrounded by images of crowns, bunting featuring British and American flags to mark both Harry and Meghan's heritage and even a corgi dog wearing royal robes. An American seller, presumably hoping to cash in on the Royal Family's popularity on the other side of the Atlantic, has produced a "Royal Baby Watch" mug for "Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan", selling at $13.49 (around £10).

A short sleeved babygro for sale on Redbubble.com for £13.63 shows a picture of Harry in a suit and Megan wearing an elegant blue dress, standing beside a pram, alongside the words "Royal Baby April 2019" - optimistically expecting that the royal birth will take place before Wednesday.

The couple's new social media account earlier this month broken the record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram, according to Guinness World Records.said. The account @sussexroyal, set up at the beginning of April, reached the one million milestone in just five hours and 45 minutes. It now has 5.3 million followers.

The couple married in May last year in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Their child, when he or she is born, will be seventh in line to the throne.