Bride-to-be Meghan Markle has told friends she “cannot wait to be a mother”, her former agent has claimed.

Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, a professional and personal confidante of Meghan, said the former actress told her over a lunch in 2016 she saw children in her future.

The two women were travelling together for work in the Cayman Islands when the private conversation – reportedly whispered – took place.

“She said to me, ‘I would absolutely love to have children’,” Ms Nelthorpe-Cowne said, speaking to new Sky documentary Harry and Meghan: A Love Story.

On May 19, Meghan, 36, will become the second-oldest royal bride in history when she weds Prince Harry, 33, at Windsor Castle.

Camilla Parker Bowles was 57 in 2005, when she married Prince Charles, whose first bride Lady Diana Spencer was 20 at the time of their 1981 wedding.

Coming in third is Kate Middleton, who was 29 when she became the Duchess of Cambridge upon her 2011 marriage to Prince William.

“Meghan is very doting with children,” royals author Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight.

“She is very maternal.”

Meghan reached out to a little girl at Westminster Abbey on March 12. Photo: Getty

It’s not just Meghan who is clucky.

In his BBC post-engagement interview with his new fiancée in November, Harry spoke about having children: “One step at a time, and hopefully we’ll start a family in the near future.”

Last year, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Harry spoke about being bumped from third in line to the throne by nephew Prince George, 4, and niece Princess Charlotte, 3. (He was edged to sixth by Prince Louis’ April birth.)

“The reason I am now fifth is because of my nephew and niece and I could never wish them away,” he said. “They are the most amazing things ever.”

Open about his hopes of being a father, the prince said: “I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too.”

Nicholl, author of new book Harry: Life, Loss, and Love, told The New Daily that “anyone who’s ever seen Harry with kids knows he will be a great father”, adding that he and Meghan “adore” the little Cambridge children.

The cool dad? Harry does his thing with children in London in March. Photo: Getty

A “pretty broody” Harry introduced his then-girlfriend early on to William and Kate’s children “so she could see that this would be hopefully replicated by them”, said Nicholl.

“That you marry into the royal family, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a regular family with cute children, and here are George and Charlotte to show that that can happen.”

If and when Meghan and Harry become parents, they will reportedly have a new home to raise them in.

Since the couple were engaged last November, Apartment 1 at Kensington Palace has been under renovation, with claims it is being prepared for the newylweds to move into after their marriage.

According to the Mirror, workers repairing the roof of the apartment were told to complete the job on time because Harry and Meghan plan to start a family soon.

Kensington Palace’s Apartment 1A under renovation for William and Kate in 2013.

The prince “keeps popping around and asking when it will be ready”, a source said.

The 21-room home is connected by adjoining doors to the Cambridges’ recently-renovated Apartment 1A. It is currently occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who have lived there since 1972.

Princess Michael of Kent told Tatler in 2014 that Apartment 1 would be perfect for Harry in the future, saying the Gloucesters are “rattling around this huge space and Prince Harry might go there. Very good move”.