Kensington Palace has announced that the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy at 4.24pm (London time) on July 22.
The baby boy reportedly weighs 8lb 6ozs.
There are no details on the baby’s name yet.
This is the announcement from the palace:
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24pm.
The baby weighs 8lbs 6oz.
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 and will remain in hospital overnight.
This is the official announcement outside Buckingham Palace:
Prince Charles made a statement following the birth saying:
“Both my wife and I are overjoyed at the arrival of my first grandchild. It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy.
Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future.”
According to the palace, the Queen and Prince Philip are also delighted at the news.
The baby boy is third in line for the throne, with Daddy Wills and Grand-Daddy Charlie both likely to take their turns at the top job first. That just gives the bub plenty of time to play on his antique rocking horse before graduating to Polo. We assume.
After tying the knot in an epic April ceremony in 2011, the Duke and Duchess were forced to let the world in on their big baby secret when Kate was admitted to hospital for severe morning sickness in December last year.
Royal Baby fever pitch officially peaked in the last few weeks, with news outlets camping outside the hospital and the sale of pool-room-worthy commemorative plates going through the roof.
No official pics have been released yet, but DON’T PANIC! Here’s a royal gallery to tide you over:
Royal Baby!
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Top Comments
While it is happy news, seeing all the hype and footage on TV, the public reaction feels a bit bizarre, obsessive and OTT. Grown middle aged men camping out in a London street and jumping up and down yelling 'It's a boy!!' and shaking champagne. The intense level of public in the internet age for a baby born with a predetermined future feels really stalky and weird. It's all a bit much, and would utterly freak me out. Hope things calm down a bit.
I went to bed last night checking for updates and then my first thought this morning was to look up the news to find out what had happened. I find myself very excited about this little baby and happy that he is here safe and sound.
And now we must sit back and wait for all the magazines to start talking about Kate's 'baby body' and 'how she intends to lose the weight sensibly' blah, blah, blah. I feel sorry for her having to front up to the eyes of millions a day or so after giving birth when your hormones are going crazy and then having to listen to them all talk about how she looked and what she was wearing. I mean I fronted up to the hospital carpark with my messy hair and comfortable loose black pants waddling as though I was still pregnant thanks to my dodgy pelvis. Lucky no one but my husband was there and he thought I looked gorgeous because I was carrying our baby.
But it's her sole duty, so I don't 'feel for her'