Royal baby born: it’s a boy!
Posted Jul 22, 2013 05:08:55 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LONDON – Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has given birth to a baby boy.
The baby was born at 4:24 p.m., London time. He weighs eight pounds, six ounces.
Royal officials released an official statement at 7:37 a.m. local time confirming that Kate had travelled by car to St. Mary’s Hospital in central London with Prince William.
Kate gave birth in the private Lindo Wing of the hospital, where Princess Diana gave birth to William and his younger brother, Prince Harry.
Mother and baby are doing well.
[View the story “It’s a boy: official announcement & reaction” on Storify]CityNews reporter Francis D’Souza is reporting from outside the hospital Monday alongside other media outlets and royal watchers.
“It’s actually very close quarters now as your can imagine the interest in this is just incredibly enormous,” D’Souza said.
“There are extra police officers here as well. They’re trying to keep control of the crowds and trying to keep all the entrances clear as this is still an active hospital.”
Royal protocol dictated the first to learn of the arrival of the baby was Queen Elizabeth, where Prince William was advised to call his grandmother first.
The Prime Minister and the Governors General of each of the Commonwealth Nations, along with the rest of The Royal and Middleton families were informed once the Queen was reached.
A news release was issued shortly before a royal aide emerged from the hospital with a signed bulletin carrying the Buckingham Palace letterhead. The bulletin was driven to Buckingham Palace, where it was posted on a guilded easel in public view, just inside the gates.
The notice stated the baby’s gender, weight and time of birth, but not his name. It could be some time before the baby’s name is made public; when William was born, a week passed before his name was announced. Charles’s name remained a mystery for an entire month.
“Now it’s going to be what stroller is she pushing? Does she use a baby Bjorn? What type of bottles is she using? Everything you can possibly imagine, a baby company is just chomping at the bit,” CNN Royal Commentator Victoria Arbiter said.
Officials have said that William plans to take a two week paternity leave and then return to his military duties as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in Wales.
His tour of duty is scheduled to wrap up around September, and he and Kate are expected to move from their isolated cottage on the island of Anglesey off the coast of Wales to Kensington Palace in central London.
But major refurbishment works at the palace likely won’t be finished for at least a month or two, meaning that William and Kate will most likely have to make do with their current temporary home in London, a two-bedroom property at the palace.
Come autumn, however, the family will be able to move into their permanent London home, Apartment 1a at Kensington Palace: a four-story house with a nursery, 20 rooms and a private garden.
