Britain delights in birth of Meghan's royal boy
WINDSOR, United Kingdom (AFP) – Delighted Britons bet on baby names and dusted off their Union Jack costumes after Prince Harry and Meghan welcomed the royal family's first known mixed-race child.
Ending days of suspense, a visibly relieved Harry, 34, announced Monday the arrival of the couple's firstborn – a son who will be
seventh in the long line to the British throne.
It was a rare piece of good news for a nation exhausted by its endless fight over Brexit, a chance to celebrate royal traditions – this time with a young American twist.
Prince Charles, on a visit to Germany, said he was "obviously delighted"and "impatient" to see his third grandchild.
The heir to the British throne, speaking in German, said he would see the baby "in the coming days when things are calmer".
Back in Britain, curiosity mounted about the newest member of the royal family.
"I want to see how he'll look. As Meghan is mixed race, I'm curious", said Zahra Kibue, 34, who lived in Kenya before moving to England a few years ago.
"It's very important," said Kibue. "The monarchy is saying, the door is open, anybody could be of royal kinship."
The royal couple are due to show off their son to the world's media and announce his name on Wednesday.
It is not known whether the child will be given a royal title but it is highly likely.
Meghan Markle, a 37-year-old former TV star who studied in the suburbs of Chicago and has an African American mother, has created a fresh buzz around the century-old House of Windsor.
The American duchess made waves by closing her own car door -- a task usually performed by aides.
The couple announced the birth of the seven-pound, three-ounce (3.26-kilogramme) baby – "It's a BOY!" – to their 6.5 million followers on Instagram.
Perhaps most notably, Meghan decided to ignore past practice by keeping the birth private and well away from the prying media's eyes.
"Congratulations. Another great grandchild!" Britain's Press Association quoted a guest as telling the queen as she posed for a group photo at Windsor
Castle.
"I know," the 93-year-old monarch said. It was her eighth, as she herself pointed out.
‘Sleep deprivation society’
Most UK media assumed that Meghan had opted for a home delivery.
But not The Daily Mail, which breathlessly reported that "overdue Meghan's home birth dream was dashed as she was secretly whisked to a London hospital on Sunday by Harry and his Scotland Yard security team".
The Sun, a competing tabloid, said Meghan ended up being secretly rushed to a £15,000-a-night ($20,000, 17,500-euro) London hospital before giving birth "at exactly sunrise."
The Daily Mail claimed that the birth came precisely three minutes later than that.
Either way, Harry's brother William, two years his senior and with three kids of his own, warned the happy couple that they were in for some long nights.
"I'm very pleased and glad to welcome my brother to the sleep deprivation society that is parenting," William said with a grin.