IN THE NEWS It’s a boy! Britain thrilled

KATE, the duchess of Cambridge and wife of Britain’s Prince William, gave birth to her third child, a baby boy, early yesterday.

The couple and their new child posed for photographs and waved to the crowd outside St Mary’s Hospital in central London shortly before William drove them towards their London residence, Kensington Palace.

“Their royal highnesses would like to thank all staff at the hospital for the care and treatment they have received. They would also like to thank everyone for their warm wishes,” the palace noted on Twitter.

After witnessing the birth, William left briefly in the late afternoon to bring the new royal’s siblings, Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, 2, to the hospital.

The young prince and princess left the hospital after a brief visit to await the return of their younger brother, who weighed 3.8 kilogrammes at birth.

The baby, whose name will be announced later, is Queen Elizabeth II’s sixth great-grandchild and is now fifth in line to the throne.

Charlotte’s name was announced two days after her May 2015 birth.

The queen, Prince Charles – the heir to the British throne and other members of both families “have been informed and are delighted with the news”, the palace said, adding that “her royal highness and her child are both doing well”.

Kate, 36, was taken by car to the hospital early yesterday, Kensington Palace tweeted earlier. The palace announced her pregnancy in September.

Arthur, Albert and Jack are among bookmakers’ favourite names for the boy, who was also the couple’s heaviest child at birth.

Some royal fans have been camped outside the hospital since the palace announced arrangements for the birth earlier this month, while scores more well-wishers and journalists flocked to the site following yesterday’s announcement.

Others gathered outside Buckingham Palace, the queen’s residence in central London, where a traditional royal notice of the birth was displayed to the public on a golden easel near the main gate.

Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated Kate and William on Twitter.

“My warmest congratulations to the duke and duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby boy. I wish them great happiness for the future,” May said.

London’s famous Westminster Abbey, where Kate and William married in 2011, said it plans a special peal of bells called “Cambridge Surprise Royal” today to mark the birth.

The arrival of George’s baby brother has pushed William’s brother, Prince Harry, down the line of royal succession to sixth, just ahead of his wedding to US actress Meghan Markle next month. – dpa