aNewDomain — It’s a girl. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine (known the world over as Kate Middleton), the Duchess of Cambridge, today announced the arrival of the new royal princess. Weighing eight pounds three ounces, the royal second daughter arrived at 8:30 British Summer Time (BST) and is now at home with her parents and her brother, little Prince George, in Kensington Palace.
She is fourth in line to the throne, after her grandfather, Prince Charles, her father, William, and her older brother, Prince George.
She is the first baby to take the title of princess in 25 years — the last was Princess Eugenie — and she is the highest ranking female in the succession line.
In fact, no female has been this high in the royal line of succession to the throne since Princess Ann, Prince Charles’ sister, was born nearly 65 years ago. You go, girl.
Man, I love watching the royals. And what a great time it is to do it.
The May 2, 2015 birth culminated an anxious week for royal enthusiasts as the Duchess of Cambridge’s rumored due date of either April 23 or April 25 passed.
The previous few weeks have been filled with activities for the British royal family with Queen Elizabeth II celebrating her 89th birthday on April 21, the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry spending time at the Gallipoli commemorations in Turkey on April 23 and 24 and the London Marathon.
Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne for more than 63 years, and on Sept. 9, she will overtake Victoria to become the longest reigning monarch in British history.
Prince Harry was briefly back in the U.K. to attend the London Marathon as patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
He’s back in Australia to serve a military attachment with the Australian Defense Force. On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
The Duchess gave birth at the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital in west London after a 12-hour stay. It’s the same location where Prince George, her and William’s first child, was delivered July 22, 2013.
Princes William and Harry — as well as the children of Princess Anne, the Duchess of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent –were all born at the same hospital.
We bet the obstetricians there are awesome.
It’s good to be royal.
Socially Upward
The royal press team has embraced social media and, just as when George was born, it announced the baby’s birth and gender on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Journalists received an e-mail two minutes before Kensington Palace released the news to the British monarchy’s millions of followers worldwide.
There was a delay between the birth and the time the press was notified.
Why? Because the Queen must be notified first.
That’s just how it is. It’s good to be Queen.
After the Queen was notified and after the social media announcement, officials posted the traditional announcement on a gilded easel outside Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Timeline
- Prince William left the hospital and picked up Prince George from Kensington Palace to visit his new sister at the Lindo Wing.
- Once the Cambridges left the hospital, the royal princess and her parents headed to their London home, Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, where the Queen is expected to pay a visit. The baby is the Queen’s fifth great-grandchild. After a few nights at Kensington Palace, the family will move to their country home at Anmer Hall on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for the foreseeable future.
- The baby’s name will most likely be announced 48 to 72 hours after the birth.
- The couple will probably name a charity for donations to be made in lieu of sending a gift as they did when Prince George was born. In 2013, William and Catherine selected the Imperial College Healthcare Charity, which raises funds to improve care and services at five London hospitals.
- Starting this past week, Prince William started six weeks of unpaid paternity leave. When his leave is over June 1, he’ll resume his training with Bond Air Services, the company that operates the East Anglian Air Ambulance services. This summer, after completing his training, he’ll start flying rescue air missions.
- The Duchess began her maternity leave March 27, and People magazine reports that she’s expected to take a longer leave after having her second child than she did with Prince George to fully enjoy the bonding experience. The Duchess returned to royal duties less than two months after giving birth to Prince George.
- Expect the christening to happen in July before the Queen heads to Scotland for the summer.
In Line to The Throne
As mentioned above, the second child of the Duke and Duchess will become fourth in line to the throne, after Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. Thanks to the new rules on royal succession, the new baby will not be overtaken by future younger brothers even though she’s a girl.
And again, she is the first royal daughter in the U.K. in 25 years to be born with the title of princess. The last was Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
In 2013, Britain introduced legal changes removing male bias that put princes before princesses in the line of succession. The act has now passed in all the countries in which the Queen is head of state as well as in Britain.
2015 lucky babies
Following the tradition started with Prince George’s birth, The Royal Mint is gifting 2,015 babies born on the same day as the royal baby with a “lucky” silver penny.
Parents wishing to claim their commemorative coin must register the birth of their child on The Royal Mint’s Facebook page.
Gotta love it.
For aNewDomain, I’m Jolene Campbell.
Queen Elizabeth II image: “Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, 07 Mar 2006” by Ricardo Stuckert/PR – Agência Brasil [1]. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 br via Wikimedia Commons.
Kate Middleton image: By Ricky wilson [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Royal baby image: BBC, all rights reserved.
