Mother, baby and Britain are doing well
William and Kate’s third child, a boy, becomes fifth in line to the throne
LONDON – Duchess Kate of Cambridge gave birth Monday to a new little prince of Cambridge, a historic royal baby, her third, and the new fifth in line to the British throne.
The baby was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in London at one minute after
11 a.m. local time and weighed 8 pounds,
7 ounces, Kensington Palace said. Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, Kate and Prince William emerged from the hospital, baby in her arms, as cheers from a small crowd of onlookers erupted and cameras whirred.
Kate was wearing a knee-length red dress with a white bib collar and showed only a slight remaining baby bump. Later, the couple went back inside briefly, then re-emerged holding hands, with Will carrying the baby in a carseat.
Prince William was there for the birth, as he was for their other two chil- dren. The baby, whose name the palace has not yet announced, was born on St. George’s Day, marking the national day for England’s patron saint.
After the birth was announced, Will emerged about 4 p.m. local time and a half-hour later returned with his two older children, Prince George, 4, dressed in his school uniform, and Princess Charlotte, 2, who was wearing one of her trademark flowered dresses.
Charlotte waved and smiled for the cameras, but little George looked more serious and kept his eyes on the ground as they entered the hospital. Will drove himself and his children in a blue Land
“It’s a good thing — pleased for them — but it’s time to get back to work.” James Long A Londoner on his lunch break
Rover Discovery. The children were returned to Kensington Palace before their parents emerged with the new little prince.
The former Kate Middleton, 36, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 35, arrived at the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital in London’s Paddington neighborhood early Monday by car.
The baby is grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s sixth great-grandchild and becomes fifth in line to the throne.
He will join Princess Charlotte and Prince George in the growing Cambridge family as the third grandchild of Charles, Prince of Wales, and his first wife, Princess Diana, who died in 1997.
As with her other pregnancies, Will and Kate did not know the sex of the baby beforehand, palace officials confirmed weeks before the birth.
Typically, the palace does not immediately announce the new baby’s name. Among the names favored by British bookmakers for a boy: Albert, Arthur, Frederick, James and Philip.
The little prince is a historic royal baby: Unlike previous princes born in the United Kingdom, he will not automatically displace his sister, Charlotte, in the line of succession.
Shortly before brother George was born, British law changed to make birth order the determining factor in succession, replacing gender — male primogeniture — as the default rule that developed over 10 centuries.
Aware that a 300-year-old set of laws then governing the succession looked increasingly egregious in the 21st century, British lawmakers decided the time for “royal equality” had arrived.
The newest royal will displace his uncle, Prince Harry, 33, in the succession; he will move down to sixth in line, and any children he has will follow him.
As per previous royal births, greatgranny the queen was first to be notified. Members of both families expressed delight, the palace said.
Then, in keeping with a 181-year-old tradition, a statement was posted on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, just as it was after George and Charlotte’s births.
Now that the third Cambridge baby has arrived, attention will turn to Harry’s upcoming wedding to American actress Meghan Markle, 36, at Windsor Castle on May 19. The other four Cambridges — his brother Will, sister-in-law Kate, nephew George and niece Charlotte — are expected to be there and play roles (Will as Harry’s likely best man), but probably not the new baby.
Like his siblings, the baby arrived without any medical crisis. The team of physicians was led by obstetrician Guy Thorpe Beeston and Alan Farthing, surgeon gynecologist to the queen, who helped deliver the other royal babies.
George, Charlotte and Will and Harry, too, were born in the maternity Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s, just a short drive from the Cambridge home at Kensington Palace.
It was a blustery but sunny day in London, and the area outside the hospital had been taken over by broadcasters from around the world who mixed with hospital staff, passers-by and visitors to London. When the news spread that Kate gave birth to a healthy baby boy, cheers and brief clapping erupted.
The words “it’s a boy” were flashed in lights around the top of London’s BT Tower, which can be seen for miles around, the Associated Press reported.
“This is really crazy. I can’t believe it. Some of these people have been here for 15 days waiting for this to happen,” Olivia Dragor said outside St. Mary’s.
Dragor, 21, is spending a year abroad studying communications in London. Her home college is the University of Southern California. “We don’t really get this kind of thing back home,” she said, adding that she liked the royal family but is not a full-time devotee.
“It’s wonderful. It’s really nice to see people so happy and excited,” said Lynne Gant, 62, an Australian tourist who was waiting on the perimeter of barricades that had been set up for the media.
Gant said part of her interest in the royal family stemmed from her grandmother, who was British.
Some Londoners reacted to the news that a new prince had arrived with typical British understatement.
“It’s a good thing — pleased for them — but it’s time to get back to work,” said James Long, 29, an accountant who was passing by the hospital on his lunch break.
Prime Minister Theresa May, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and other British politicians and public figures sent their well-wishes and congratulations over social media.
Kate’s other babies had easy deliveries (she gave birth and left the hospital on the same day for Princess Charlotte), in contrast to crippling bouts of acute morning sickness that forced her to cancel engagements and stay in bed in the early stages of her pregnancies. She was so ill she had to miss George’s first day of his new school; Will did the solo dropoff instead.
The Cambridges are now full-time royals based in their sprawling 20-room Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace. George’s school is just across the Thames River; Charlotte started at a nursery school near the palace in January.
The family also has a country retreat, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk on the queen’s Sandringham estate, where they may spend some time now that the baby is born. Will is no longer working part-time in Norfolk as a helicopter rescue pilot, and Kate has expanded her royal patronages and engagements to take on more royal duties.
Puente reported from Washington.