ROYAL BABY NEWS
Assuming the baby is born today, it will share its birthday with former Manchester United, Real Madrid and England footballer David Beckham (40) and pop singer Englebert Humperdinck (79). Prince William, the President of the FA, is good friends with Becks, so he will no doubt have a private joke with him about how he upstaged the big Beckham bash next time they meet.
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A group of rugby fans from Toulon has turned up at the Lindo Wing singing their team song. Their team is playing fellow French side Clermont Auvergne in the Final of the European Champions Cup at Twickenham this evening. Philippe Daniel, 44, said he is "not especially" a royal fan, but added: "There is no royal family in France so the English royal family is ours."
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Here's what we know: Kate and William arrived by car at the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, at around 6am this morning. It is believe they weren't spotted and no pictures were taken off them as they entered the hospital. The Duchess is in the early stages of labour.
It's all very similar to when Prince George was born two years ago. The royal security team have done a stellar job.
The medical team in charge of safely delivering the royal baby will be led by Guy Thorpe-Beeston, Surgeon Gynaecologist to the Royal Household.
Mr Thorpe-Beeston, an obstetrician who specialises in high-risk pregnancies, has a private Harley Street practice and is a consultant at the Portland private hospital and at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the NHS.
A Cambridge graduate, he worked at King's College Hospital in London before becoming a consultant in foetal medicine at Chelsea and Westminster in 1996.
He will be assisted by Alan Farthing, Surgeon Gynaecologist to the Queen, who was the fiance of the television presenter Jill Dando
at the time of her murder in 1999, and has been part of the Queen's medical household since 2008.
Both men were present for the birth of Prince George, though they will this time be without the services of Sir Marcus Setchell, the former royal surgeon-gynaecologist who delayed his retirement to lead the team that delivered the Duchess's son in 2013.
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Meanwhile, this Tweet from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London:
heat & heatworld.com ✔.........................................Follow
@heatworld
The new kittens at @BDCH reckon the second #royalbaby will be a BOY! Agree? RT for boy, FAV for girl! #heatroyalbaby
2:30 PM - 21 Apr 2015
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Follow
Gordon Rayner ✔ @gordonrayner
Lindo Wing. Here we go again.
8:04 AM - 2 May 2015
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Gordon Rayner ✔ @gordonrayner
The scene at the Lindo
8:03 AM - 2 May 2015
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Prince George was born at around 4.30 in the afternoon. Given that second babies are normally quicker, could we have a baby by 12pm?
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The new royal baby will be fourth in line to the throne, behind the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George.
It means Prince Harry will drop down to fifth in line, and every other member of the Royal family will be one step further away from the throne.
Because of recent
changes to the laws governing succession, the baby's sex will make no difference, as boys no longer have precedence over girls. So if the baby is a girl and the couple one day have another son, that son would be behind his sister in the line of succession.
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The latest from Patrick Sawer at the Lindo Wing
Two hospital workers observing the mounting excitement outside the Lindo Wing delivered a typically British verdict on the proceedings, part cynical, part genuinely excited.
Maria, a ward cleaner, said: "For us its a normal working day. Sort of. We still have to clean the hospitals and look after the patients. But its exiting all the same. I hope everything goes well for her."
Her colleague Deborah, who has worked at St Mary's for nearly 40 years said: "Its going to be a cold business waiting out here for her to give birth. It was much warmer for the last one.
"Her first baby was born in July wasn't he? It was a really sunny day as far as I can remember. Not like today. Typical Bank Holiday weather."
Keep up to date here: Royal baby news live: Kate Middleton in labour - here he or she comes! - Telegraph
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new baby will be fourth in line to throne and will receive the HRH title
What is not commonly known is that until just a few years ago this new royal baby would NOT have been entitled to call themselves a prince or princess.
According to a decree made by George V in 1917, the titles HRH and, therefore, prince and princess were restricted to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
Hence Prince Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie are princesses and this new baby's elder brother George and his father William are princes, but not Zara or Peter Phillips, the children of Princess Anne.
Prince Edward’s young son and daughter, Louise and James, were entitled to use the HRH title, but Edward and his wife, Sophie, declined it as they wanted their children to have more of a ‘normal life’.
Their daughter, while technically being a princess, use the courtesy title of the daughter of an Earl instead and is known as Lady Louise. Her brother is James, Viscount Severn.
So if William and Kate’s first born child had been a girl, she would also have been styled Lady Mountbatten-Windsor.
A second-born son would have similarly lacked the HRH title and become Lord (forename) Mountbatten-Windsor rather than a prince.
Shortly before the birth of Prince George, the Queen, who had long been keen to rectify this imbalance, issued what are known as Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, an ancient type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by the monarch.
Letters Patent are a form of public proclamation and a rare exercise of extra-parliamentary power by the sovereign, known as royal prerogative. Its name derives from the Latin pateo, meaning exposed and accessible.
In it she ordered that all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should be able to use the HRH title.
The proclamation, issued through the House of Lords on December 31 2012, read: ‘The Queen has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 31 December 2012 to declare that all the children of the eldest son of The Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour.’
That means the new baby will be known as HRH Prince or Princess (forename) of Cambridge.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's new baby will be the Queen's fifth great-grandchild (of which three, so far, are girls – those being Princess Anne’s grandchildren, Savannah and Isla Phillips, and Mia Tindall) and a great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.
If the baby is a girl, it will be the first time a great granddaughter of a still-serving sovereign has been born in direct succession on the male line since 1897, when George VI's sister Princess Mary was born.
Prince George's younger sibling will be the ‘spare to the heir’ – a colloquialism for a younger brother or sister to a future king - and will not be expected to ever be crowned sovereign.
But second-born royal children have on occasion ended up as monarch.
The country's last king, George VI, was not meant to accede to the throne and only did so when his older brother Edward VIII abdicated over his love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson in 1936.
George VI's father, George V, was also not destined to wear the crown. But he outlived his older brother the Duke of Clarence and Avondale - Prince Albert Victor - who died from flu in 1892. George V became king in 1910.
Once the prince or princess arrives, Prince Harry will shift down the line of succession to fifth in line to the throne, while the Duke of York will drop out of the top five for the first time to sixth place and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will move to seventh and eighth.
Zara Phillips will fall out of the first 15 in line to the throne to 16th place.
If the latest addition to the Royal Family is a girl, it will be the first Princess of Cambridge since Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge. Princess Mary
(27 November 1833 – 27 October 1897) was a granddaughter of King George III, the mother of Queen Mary of Teck (the wife of King George V and the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II) and a great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Mary's large girth earned her the epithet "Fat Mary" and is thought to be one reason why she didn't marry until she was 33 (she married Francis, Duke of Teck, our current monarch's great-grandfather).
Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to daughter
BBC News
2 May 2015
The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a girl, Kensington Palace has announced.
The baby - who is fourth in line to the throne - was "safely delivered" at 08:34 BST (around three hours ago), the palace said in a statement.
The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth of the baby, who weighs 8lbs 3oz.
Both Catherine and her daughter are "doing well", the statement added.
The duchess had earlier been admitted to the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital where Prince George was born in July 2013.
Catherine travelled from the palace with her husband Prince William and was admitted at 06:00 BST.
The statement from Kensington Palace added: "The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news."
The latest royal joins the line of succession behind her grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and brother Prince George.
On Thursday, during an official engagement, Prince Charles had said he was hoping the duchess gave birth to a girl.
Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to daughter - BBC News
It's a girl! Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, is 'doing well' after giving birth to her second child weighing 8lbs 3oz
The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby girl at 8.34am this morning at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital
Kate, 33, was admitted to the hospital at 6am this morning and was accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge
The little girl is fourth-in-line to the throne and will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess (name) of Cambridge
A Kensington Palace statement said both the Duchess and her newborn daughter are 'doing well' after the birth
By
Rebecca English and
Jennifer Smith for MailOnline
2 May 2015
Daily Mail
The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a baby girl, Kensington Palace has announced.
The princess was born at 8.34am this morning weighing 8lbs 3oz, with the Duke of Cambridge present for the birth.
Kensington Palace announced the birth shortly after 11am this morning, some five hours after Kate was admitted to the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.
The Duchess and her newborn daughter are both 'doing well', a palace spokesman said.
Royal fans celebrate after hearing the news that the Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a baby girl at 8.34am today. Kate was admitted to the Lindo Wing at St Mary's hospital at 6am
Royal fans celebrate outside the Lindo Wing after it was announced the Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a baby girl this morning
Kate, 33, was last seen at Buckingham Palace after using the Queen’s swimming pool with her son, Prince George, on April 29 (above)
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Just as he did when Prince George was born, town crier Tony Appleton made the above announcement on the steps of the Lindo Wing this morning shortly after Kensington Palace released the news
The announcement came by way of a statement released by Kensington Palace shortly after 11am. It was then posted on the palace's official Twitter page two minutes later.
'Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am,' it said.
'The baby weighs 8lbs 3oz. 'The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.
'The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news.
'Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.'
The Prime Minister was among the first to congratulate the couple, writing on Twitter: 'Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby girl.
'Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am.
'The baby weighs 8lbs 3oz. 'The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.
'The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news.
'Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.'
'I'm absolutely delighted for them.'
Kate was admitted to the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital at 6am on Saturday morning, giving birth two-and-a-half hours later.
The announcement was not made to the media until shortly after 11am once the couple's close friends and family had been informed.
Kate is expected to spend one night in Kensington Palace with her new daughter and Prince George before retreating to Anmer Hall in Norfolk with Prince William and her parents.
William and Kate’s new daughter, a younger sister for Prince George, who was born at the same hospital in July 2013, is fourth in line to the throne.
Although she is unlikely to ever become queen, it is not unheard of for a second child in the direct line of succession to accede to the throne.
Mostly recently the Queen’s own father, King George VI, replaced his elder brother, King Edward VIII, who abdicated over his love for the ‘unsuitable’ American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Thanks to a recent change in the law, the couple’s daughter cannot be superseded in her claim to the throne by any younger brother who may yet come along.
The Succession to the Crown Act, passed in 2013, means that male heirs no longer precede their elder sisters in the line of succession
A 2012 intervention by the Queen also means that the new baby will automatically become an HRH – Her Royal Highness – and be permitted to take the title of princess.
As the second child of the second heir to the throne she would, until then, only have been a Lady.
Her arrival will shunt his uncle, Prince Harry, down to fifth in the order of succession. Her great uncle, Prince Andrew, will fall out of the top five for the first time to sixth.
Many royal watchers had been desperately hoping for a girl – the last to be born in the direct line of succession was Princess Anne back in 1950.
Both Prince Charles and William’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, both openly longed for a girl to add to their family.
A town crier celebrates outside the hospital as members of the media react to the news that the Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a girl
Royal fans celebrate the news that the Duchess gave birth to a daughter this morning after gathering outside the Lindo Wing overnight
Armed Metropolitan Police officers were seen outside the hospital for the first time this week after daily security checks were carried out in preparation for the royal arrival
As is traditional for a royal birth, an easel was placed in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace to confirm the baby's birth shortly after 12.30pm to the delight of gathered crowds
A signed paper with the signatures of Kate's medical team was placed outside Buckingham Palace at 12.30 to confirm the baby's birth
