Photographers adjust their camera’s outside St. Mary’s Hospital exclusive Lindo Wing in London, Monday, July 22, 2013. Buckingham Palace officials say Prince William’s wife, Kate, has been admitted to the hospital in the early stages of labour. Royal officials said that Kate traveled by car to St. Mary’s Hospital in central London. Kate, also known as the Duchess of Cambridge, is expected to give birth in the private Lindo Wing of the hospital, where Princess Diana gave birth to William and his younger brother, Prince Harry.The baby will be third in line for the British throne, behind Prince Charles and William, and is anticipated eventually to become king or queen. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)READ MORE
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Prince William and Kate Timeline
Prince William and his wife Kate, both 31, are expecting their first child, to be third in line for the throne. Here are some highlights of their lives and of the royal pregnancy:-Sept. 2001: Prince William and Kate Middleton meet at St Andrews University in Scotland where they are both studying art history.-Christmas 2003: The pair reportedly become a couple after sharing a house together with two friends. In March they are pictured together on a skiing holiday in Switzerland.-Nov. 16, 2010: William and Kate’s engagement is announced by Clarence House officials. The prince proposed to Kate while on a private holiday to Kenya the previous month.-April 29, 2011: The pair wed in a lavish ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey. William is made the Duke of Cambridge by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and Kate becomes the Duchess of Cambridge.-Dec. 3, 2012: The palace announces that Kate is pregnant and being treated in hospital for acute morning sickness. Kate is discharged from the hospital after three nights, telling reporters she is feeling “much better.” The palace later announces that the bay is due in July.-Feb. 5: The couple holiday on the Caribbean island of Mustique with Kate’s parents.-March 5: Kate apparently lets slip that she is expecting a daughter on a solo visit to Grimsby. Accepting a teddy bear from a member of the public, she apparently replies: “Oh, is this for our d…? Thank you so much.” The possible slip of the tongue prompts a wave of betting on a royal daughter.-March 17: Kate tells a soldier at a St Patrick’s Day parade that they do not know the sex of the child, but says she would like a boy and William a girl.-March 20: Kate given a “Baby on board” badge when she joins the Queen and Prince Philip at Baker Street underground station to mark the 150th anniversary of the Tube.-May 11: Kate and William attend William van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene’s wedding in Oxfordshire, England. The pair reportedly take to the dance floor despite Kate being seven months pregnant.-June 4: William and Kate return to their wedding venue at Westminster Abbey when they join the royal family for a service marking the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey.-June 13: Kate carries out her final solo engagement before going on maternity leave when she names a new cruise liner – the Royal Princess – in Southampton.-June 15: The Duchess makes her last scheduled public appearance before the birth at the Trooping the Color parade.-June 19: It is confirmed Kate is planning to give birth at the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, where Princess Diana gave birth to William and Prince Harry. It is reported Kate is hoping for a natural birth.-July 22: Kate and William arrive at the hospital in the early morning and Kensington Palace confirms that Kate is in labor.
LONDON – Champagne bottles popped and shouts of “Hip! Hip! Hooray!” erupted outside Buckingham Palace on Monday as Britain welcomed the birth of Prince William and his wife Kate’s first child, a boy who is now third in line to the British throne.
Hundreds of Britons and tourists broke into song and dance outside the palace gates as officials announced that the future king was born at 4:24 p.m., weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces (3.75 kilograms), at central London’s St. Mary’s Hospital – the same place where William and his brother Harry were born three decades ago.
The imminent arrival of the royal baby was the subject of endless speculation on social media and was covered for days on live television around the world, but in the end the royal family managed to keep it a remarkably private affair.