London: She’s been named Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Kensington Palace officials made the announcement via Twitter. Britain’s new royal baby was born Saturday morning to Prince William and his wife Kate. Her official name is – Her Royal Highness Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge… paying tribute to both her great-grandmother the Queen, and Diana, her late grandmother.
Prince William, Kate with Charlotte Elizabeth Diana
Londoners paused on Monday morning to celebrate her birth with the sounds of cannon-fire across the city. On Saturday, Prince William’s wife Kate gave birth to a baby girl as Britain celebrated the royal family’s new fourth in line to the throne.
The beaming couple later left the hospital carrying the newborn princess in front of hundreds of screaming well-wishers and amid a flurry of flashes from the assembled crowd of photographers.
A relaxed-looking Kate wore a yellow patterned dress and cradled the sleeping baby wrapped in a white blanket in her arms in front of the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in central London.
William then drove his wife and daughter to Kensington Palace, the couple’s official residence, in a black Range Rover after carrying the baby in a car seat.
The birth of a sister to Prince George was announced to the world in a tweet from Kensington Palace and by a traditional town-crier in a colourful costume and a feathered tricorne hat, ringing a bell on the steps of the clinic.
A proclamation signed by the royal doctors was also placed on a gilded easel in front of Buckingham Palace, where hundreds of onlookers crowded by the gates to witness the historic moment.
“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am,” the Kensington Palace press office said in a statement.
William was present for the birth and the as yet unnamed princess weighed eight pounds and three ounces (3.7 kilos).
William said he was “very happy” when he went out to Kensington Palace earlier on Saturday to pick up 20-month-old Prince George, the couple’s first child, and bring him back to the clinic to meet his little sister.
It was only the second time since his own birth in 2013 that George had been seen in public in Britain as his parents have shielded him from the media and threatened to sue paparazzi who take his picture.
Great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and other senior members of the royal family were informed before the formal announcement and grandfather Prince Charles was said to be “absolutely delighted” at the news.
The queen wore a pink dress and shawl at a military parade she attended in northern England later on Saturday in apparent homage to the latest arrival.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” Prime Minister David Cameron said, leading congratulations from around the country that included the message “It’s a Girl” scrolled on an electronic display on top of London’s BT Tower.
Royal navy sailors on board HMS Lancaster sent a unique message of congratulations by lining up on the flight deck to spell out the word “sister”.
In Australia, which William and Kate visited last year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott sent a message saying his country “shares this young family’s joy”.
Ventuno/AFP/Reuters