Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips gives birth to 16th in line to the Throne

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The Queen's granddaughter and British Olympian Zara Phillips gave birth to a baby girl in the early hours of this morning.

Zara's husband, England Rugby Union star Mike Tindall, was present at the birth at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

The girl, whose name has not yet been confirmed, weighed 7lbs 12oz and is the 16th in line to the Throne but she will be given no royal title.

England rugby star Tindall has no title himself and Zara, born down the female line, is not entitled to be an HRH.

Her father Captain Mark Phillips was believed to have been offered an earldom by the Queen when he married Princess Anne but chose not to take it.

The latest addition to the Royal Family will be known as plain Miss Tindall and the new parents are hoping their laid-back approach to life will rub off on their first born daughter.

Elizabeth, Victoria and Charlotte, in honour of a past or present queen (Queen Charlotte was the wife of George III), are amongst the bookies' favourites for names.

The new baby will be a future playmate for her second cousin, six- month-old Prince George of Cambridge - to whom Zara is a godmother.

The baby also has two first cousins on the royal side of the family - Zara's brother Peter Phillips and his Canadian wife Autumn Phillips' daughters Savannah and Isla.

The baby's new arrival means that the Queen's nephew Viscount Linley shifts down one place in the line of succession to 17th.

Zara is expected to return to competitive horse riding following the birth of her baby, just like her mother the Princess Royal did.

The Olympic silver medallist - she won silver at London 2012 as part of the Great Britain Eventing Team - is hoping to enter the Badminton Horse Trials in May, followed by the World Equestrian Games in France in August.

She and Mike Tindall met at a Sydney bar in 2003 during the Rugby Union World Cup, which Tindall and his England teammates went on to win.



Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs with Mike Tindall at her side


Zara, the Queen's granddaughter, gave birth to a 7lbs 12oz baby girl who is sixteenth in line to the throne

Baby, whose name is yet to be confirmed, is Queen's fourth great-grandchild but will bear no royal title

Daughter was born at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital this morning

Mother and baby thought to be doing well and are already at home

Zara's husband, Mike Tindall, was present at the birth of their first-born

New mother expected to return to competitive horse riding following birth


By Anna Edwards
17 January 2014
Daily Mail

Zara Phillips gave birth to a baby girl at an NHS hospital in the early hours of this morning and has already taken her newborn home.

The baby, whose name is yet to be confirmed, weighed 7lbs 12oz, Buckingham Palace announced. Mother and baby are believed to be doing well.

The Olympic silver-medallist's husband, former England rugby player Mike Tindall, was present at the birth of his daughter at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester.

The new baby girl is sixteenth in line to the throne and is the Queen's fourth great-grandchild, but will not bear a royal title.


The Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, seen here at the weekend, has given birth to a baby girl

England rugby star Tindall has no title himself and Zara, born down the female line, is not entitled to be an HRH.

Her father Captain Mark Phillips was believed to have been offered an earldom by the Queen when he married Princess Anne but chose not to take it.

The latest addition to the Royal Family will be known as plain Miss Tindall and the new parents are hoping their laid-back approach to life will rub off on their first born daughter.

Ahead of the birth, they were interviewed by Australian Women's Weekly, with Tindall saying: 'I think we're both quite well-balanced and laid-back as a couple, so hopefully he or she will pick up on that.'


New grandparents: Linda Tindall, Captain Mark Phillips, Princess Anne and Phil Tindall have a new granddaughter to fuss over


Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall leave the Christmas Day service at Sandringham on December 25


Zara added: 'I hope we're going to make good parents. That's the plan.'

The couple wanted a surprise and did not find out the sex beforehand.

The new baby will be a future playmate for her second cousin, six- month-old Prince George of Cambridge - to whom Zara is a godmother.

The baby also has two first cousins on the royal side of the family - Peter and Autumn Phillips' daughters Savannah and Isla.

The baby's new arrival means that the Queen's nephew Viscount Linley shifts down one place in the line of succession to 17th.

Zara is expected to return to competitive horse riding following the birth of her baby, just like the Princess Royal did.

The Olympic silver medallist is hoping to enter the Badminton Horse Trials in May, followed by the World Equestrian Games in France in August.

Asked for the Prime Minister's response to news of the birth, David Cameron's official spokesman said: 'He passes on his many congratulations to the happy couple and to Her Majesty the Queen.'

Mr Cameron later sent a message in a tweet - using the hashtag #royalbaby - to say: 'Many congratulations to Zara and Mike Tindall on the birth of their baby girl.'

News that Zara, the Queen's eldest granddaughter, was pregnant was announced by Buckingham Palace in July as the nation awaited the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby.

Tindall has previously spoken about how they were waiting for the right window before having a baby.

'Obviously we're going to have a family. But it's about timing,' he said in May last year.

He added: 'It's just where we find the balance in that. I wouldn't say we'll wait, we'll try and find a window.'


Zara and Tindall married at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh joined by the Queen and the rest of the royal family

But despite their planning, news that Zara was pregnant was something of a surprise to the couple, with Tindall admitting it happened quicker than they thought and came as a bit of a shock.

At the time of the announcement, Tindall took to Twitter to express his delight, joking that he hoped their child would not inherit his nose, which has been broken eight times during his rugby playing career.

He wrote: 'Thanks for all the kind messages, we are very excited and I agree with you all that hopefully he/she won't have my nose.'

With rugby player Mike Tindall as a father, the youngster is likely to have an early introduction to an active, sporting life.


The latest addition to the Royal Family will be known as plain Miss Tindall and will be a future playmate for her second cousin, six-month-old Prince George of Cambridge

The baby will also spend time with second cousin Prince George as Zara is close to her cousin the Duke of Cambridge and is his son's godmother.

But the two babies' destinies are remarkably different, with George a future king - although his days as monarch are likely to be a long way off - and the new Miss Tindall much freer to carve her own path in life.

The latest addition to the royal family will grow up on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate near Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire. Zara and Tindall returned to live there in January 2013 and it is where she stables and trains her horses.

A busy Princess Royal, when not carrying out her 500-plus royal engagements a year, will be on hand to help and is likely to be an important figure throughout the baby's childhood.

A glowing Zara a few weeks before giving birth




The baby, whose name is yet to be confirmed, was born at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital


The new baby, who was born in this NHS hospital, will be a future playmate for her second cousin, six- month-old Prince George of Cambridge

Zara paid a warm tribute to her mother during a BBC interview ahead of her 60th birthday celebrations.

'If I was going to be a mother, that is what I want to be like,' she said. 'I would like to be as good a mother as she's been to us.'

Zara's brother Peter Phillips revealed Anne also kept them in check.

'Whenever we may have got slightly above our station, she would be the first one to bring us back down to earth fairly hard,' he said.

No-nonsense Anne will undoubtedly do the same for her new grandchild.

The baby's other grandparents are Tindall's mother Linda, who is a social worker, and father Philip - a retired bank official who played rugby for Otley for 10 years until a knee injury ended his career in 1973.

There might even be a stint at a boarding school for the new royal baby. Zara went to Gordonstoun in Moray, Scotland, where her grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh and uncle the Prince of Wales were educated.

The Olympic silver medallist was last seen watching in public watching her beloved horses as they were put through their paces during the Heythrop Hunt Point-to-Point races in Gloucestershire on January 12.

Zara, a world three-day event champion in 2006, has been unable to compete in equestrian events since her pregnancy reached its later stages.

She was pictured early in her pregnancy competing in a show jumping event, but has since been channelling her energy into helping a race horse part owned by her husband become a champion.

Her husband, 35, revealed that the pair have decided not to find out the sex of their baby before its birth - preferring to keep it a surprise.

The new parents married in Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh in July 2011, after meeting in Australia in 2003.


Zara Phillips and the rest of the Great Britain Eventing Team receive their silver medals at the London 2012 Olympics - from Zara's mother, the Princess Royal. The Princess Royal also rode for the Great Britain Eventing Team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, on the Queen's horse Goodwill, becoming the first British royal to compete in the Olympics


Mike Tindall in action for England against France


HOW ZARA HOPES TO BE 'AS GOOD A MOTHER AS PRINCESS ROYAL'

Every new mother has an idea of how they want to raise their child - and for Zara, that means following in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Anne.

The 32-year-old paid a warm tribute to her mother during a BBC interview ahead of her 60th birthday celebrations.

'If I was going to be a mother, that is what I want to be like,' she said. 'I would like to be as good a mother as she's been to us.'

Ahead of the birth, they were interviewed by Australian Women's Weekly, with Tindall saying: 'I think we're both quite well-balanced and laid-back as a couple, so hopefully he or she will pick up on that.'

Zara added: 'I hope we're going to make good parents. That's the plan.'

With rugby player Mike Tindall as a father, the youngster is likely to have an early introduction to an active, sporting life.

The new royal baby can expect to grow up immersed in the equestrian world. Zara learnt to ride at the age of four and annual events such as Badminton became a way of life.

The baby will also spend time with second cousin Prince George as Zara is close to her cousin the Duke of Cambridge and is his son's godmother.

But the two babies' destinies are remarkably different, with George a future king - although his days as monarch are likely to be a long way off - and the Tindall baby much freer to carve her own path in life.

CHARLOTTE, VICTORIA OR ELIZABETH: WILL ZARA'S NEW BABY DAUGHTER BE NAMED IN HONOUR OF A PAST QUEEN?

Bookies are already betting on what new parents Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall will choose as their daughter's name.

The Princess Royal broke with tradition and gave her daughter Zara a name not readily associated with the British Royal Family.

But Zara and Mike could pick a moniker for their baby that harks back to monarchs of the past.

Among the favourites with bookmakers are:

CHARLOTTE
Queen Charlotte, who was born in 1744, was married to George III. Charlotte was actually her second name - her first being Sophie. A keen botanist, she founded Kew Gardens, had 15 children - 13 of whom survived - and was a patron of the arts. Some historians have argued that she was of African descent. Her daughter, born in 1766, was also called Charlotte and later known as the Princess Royal.
George IV, Charlotte and George III's son, also named his only child Charlotte, but she died in childbirth at the age of 21, leading to a mass outpouring of grief across the nation

ELIZABETH
The Queen is held in great respect by her family. Zara's great-grandmother the Queen Mother was also Elizabeth.
Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch who ruled from 1558 until 1603.

VICTORIA
The longest reigning British monarch so far. Victoria ruled for more than 63 years, acceding to the throne in 1837. Britain had evolved into a constitutional monarchy. She became the figurehead of a vast empire and her reign spanned the rest of the century.
She married Prince Albert and had nine children, but mourned his early death for the rest of her life.

ANNE
Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs who became Queen aged 37 in 1702 and reigned until her death in 1714. Married to Prince George of Denmark she gave birth to more than a dozen children but none survived her.
Anne suffered from poor health and her weight ballooned towards the end of her life.


However, don't place your bets on Polly or Linda, as their odds are 25/1 and 50/1 respectively.


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