"Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge safely delivered a baby boy at 4:24 pm London time." Signed by four witnesses including the doctors. The easel was displayed outside Buckingham Palace few minutes ago.
Kate Middleton's baby is finally here! Buckingham Palace confirms that the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a baby boy, the first child for her and Prince William.
The birth comes after an anxious waiting period. Beginning in early July, press and fans camped outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital waiting for the duchess to arrive on her speculative due date, only to be left waiting for days more. The baby was born at 4:24 p.m. London time and weighs 8 lbs., 6 oz. Mother and child are both reportedly doing very well and will remain in the hospital at least overnight. The Duke of Cambridge, aka William, was present at the birth.
The declaration will first be printed and then signed for medical staff at St. Mary's Hospital and transported (with police escort!) to the Palace, where it will be quickly framed and then displayed. All press releases will go out after the easel reveal. "Although an electronic release will go out, we want there to be a degree of theatre about the birth announcement," a Palace rep says. "This is the birth of the third in line to the throne so it is very important. It is an extremely important occasion."
Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight, said a spokesman for the palace. The long-awaited baby will be given the title His Royal Highness and be known as Prince of Cambridge, after the Queen moved earlier this year to change almost a century of royal tradition.
Catherine and the Duke of Cambridge arrived by car at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 06:00 BST.
We take a look at some of the significant elements in the "The Kate Wait"
The Royal Room: The cost of a suite at the unit — attached to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, central London — is £6,265 for a one-night stay with no complications and £2,200 for each extra night.Based on a trouble-free three-night stay, Kate’s bill will top £10,000 — and it is possible she and Wills have booked more than one suite.
All rooms have satellite TV, WI-fi, radio and a safe. The wing also offers a “comprehensive wine list” and bottles can be chilled in the suite’s fridge. The Queen’s former gynecologist Marcus Setchell, 69, delivered the baby along with Alan Farthing, 50, the Queen’s current gynecologist.
Baby Name Bets: The birth of a baby boy is a good news for bookmakers as thousands of people have rushed to place bets on everything from the baby's name to its due date, weight, gender and eye colour. Apart from the baby's gender, the biggest guessing game ahead of the royal birth has to be the name. Most royals have three to four first names, usually in a combination that honours previous monarchs or relatives. The queen's full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, after her mother, great-grandmother and grandmother, and William's full name is William Arthur Philip Louis.
Most wanted to bet on the baby's name, and bookies said George and Alexandra are the hot favourite names for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby.The announcement that the Duchess was in labour sent punters to the betting shops, and bookmaker Paddy Power said they took £390,000 in bets in the three hours after this morning's news.
Lineage: He is the third in line for the succession of the throne. Baby Cambridge will be the 43rd monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the English crown in 1066, but is also 41st in direct line of descent from Egbert, King of Wessex, who ruled from 802 to 839.
Through the paternal line, William and Kate's firstborn is destined to be the great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. And, once grandfather Prince Charles and William have served their time on the throne, he/ she will become the eighth British monarch to descend from Victoria and Albert, whose descendants have populated many a European throne.
Media Frenzy: Prince William, 31, is known to value his privacy and that of his wife Kate after the way the paparazzi hounded his mother Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
"Unbelievable. I've stayed here, I've been camping here for 13 days. I've been on the night shift. There was no indication that it was happening," said Ki Price, a frustrated freelance German photographer camped outside the hospital. "This really is one of the biggest turnouts I have seen at a royal event with media from all over the world. It just shows what a global phenomenon they have become," said a reporter on site.
International TV crews from around the world were broadcasting regular, breathless updates as temperatures in London hit their hottest for the year at 33 degrees Celsius.
A 62-gun salute from the Tower of London and a 41-gun salute from Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, will welcome the baby into the world with a bang, just as it did when previous royals were born.
It's the first time in history that the four generations of the royal family will come together.
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Sources: Gaurdian.uk, DailyMail.co.uk, NDTV.com, BBC.co.uk, huffingtonpost.com
Images: Getty Image, Reuters, AFP
Feature Image: PA Photos