Kate Middleton In Early Stages Of Labour With A Royal Baby
Britain’s Prince William’s wife, Kate Middleton, has been admitted to hospital in London. She is in the early stages of labour, Kensington Palace announced.
The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her third child, after Prince George, 4 years old, and Princess Charlotte, two years old.
The newborn baby will be fifth in line to the British throne.
36-year-old Kate Middleton was admitted to the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in central London, where her older children were born.
She was accompanied by her husband William, their Kensington Palace home said in a statement.
The baby will hold the title of prince or princess after Queen Elizabeth changed the rules in 2012 to ensure that all of William’s children would be entitled to the style.
As with their two previous children, the royal couple do not know whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
If the baby is a boy, it will no longer overtake Charlotte in the line of succession due to new laws agreed across the 16 Commonwealth realms where Queen Elizabeth is the head of state, including Canada, Australia and Jamaica.
Under the law, designed to end male primogeniture for William’s children, any boys born after October 28, 2011 could not overtake their elder sisters.
Kate is being cared for by consultant obstetrician Guy Thorpe-Beeston, who is the surgeon-gynaecologist to the royal household, and consultant gynaecologist Alan Farthing, the Queen’s surgeon-gynaecologist — part of the trusted team who delivered George and Charlotte.
William, who is destined to become king after his father Prince Charles, and Kate met at St. Andrews University in Scotland. They married at Westminster Abbey in London on April 29, 2011.
Their new baby’s birth will be announced in both traditional and modern fashion.
A proclamation will be placed on an easel in the grounds of Buckingham Palace for the public to see. At the same time, Kensington Palace will release the news on its Twitter feed.
The birth will be celebrated with a 41-gun salute in London’s Hyde Park — the standard 21 rounds with an extra 20 because it is a royal park.
The Tower of London will fire 62 rounds: 21, plus 20 because it is a royal palace, and a further 21 because it is in the historic City of London.
Bookmakers have Mary, Alice, Victoria, Alexandra and Maria as the favourite girls’ names, with Arthur, Albert, Frederick, James and Philip the most popular boys’ names.
