Royal Baby Update – The World Awaits

By  //  July 22, 2013

BRITAIN'S ROYAL FAMILY

ABOVE VIDEO:  (Courtesy of Telegraph T.V) How Royal Baby’s Birth Will Be Announced

ROYAL BIRTH UPDATE AS OF 7:15 P.M G.M.T (2:20 P.M E.S.T,  JULY 22,2013)

Keith smiley
TV reporter Keith Malone, guest writer for Space Coast Daily.com, has covered public engagements by the Royal Family during a career lasting 25 years (Space Coast Daily.com image)

ST MARY’S • LONDON, ENGLAND — The Duchess of Cambridge is in labour – with the world’s media gathered outside a London hospital, awaiting news of the latest addition to the Royal Family, who will one day be the King or Queen of Great Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Kate Middleton rides in a royal carriage on her wedding day to Prince William (Shutterstock image)
Kate Middleton rides in a royal carriage on her wedding day next to Prince William (Shutterstock image)

Catherine and the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, arrived by car at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 06:00 British Standard Time on Monday, July 22.

Kensington Palace said she was in the early stages of labour, which was progressing as normal.

The couple do not know the sex of their first child, who will be third in line to the throne – after William’s father Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and William himself.

The world’s media have been camped outside St Mary’s for two weeks in anticipation of the birth. The due date had never been officially announced but had widely been expected to be mid-July.  Kate is thought to be a week late.

Royal vehicles were seen at a back entrance to the hospital at about 06:00 BST, with the announcement coming from Kensington Palace just before 8am.

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The couple, both 31, travelled to the hospital without a police escort, their spokesman said.

This intense international interest highlights the challenges facing William and Catherine.

The birth of a child is a deeply personal and private moment. But in their case, it will also be the cause of much wider celebration.

Prince Charles had a similar experience when Prince William was born. He wrote of being rewarded by seeing “a small creature” who “belonged to us even though he seemed to belong to everyone else as well”.

Thirty-one years on, the world waits while the Duchess of Cambridge is in labour – something which is not without risk.

Her baby will represent the beginning of family life for the couple and will offer the House of Windsor renewed hope for the future.

CLICK HERE: Keith Malone’s Royal Family Recollections

The duchess is being tended by a top medical team, led by the Queen’s gynaecologist Marcus Setchell, who delivered both children of the Countess of Wessex’ wife of William’s uncle Prince Edward, the Duke of Wessex. Alan Farthing, gynaecologist to the Royal Household, will be assisting.

Kate will give birth in the hospital’s private Lindo Wing, where Prince William and his brother Prince Harry were born to their mother Princess Diana.

There is a strong police presence around the hospital and two police officers are guarding the entrance to the private wing. The media scrum parked outside is having to contend with the heat on what is the hottest day in the UK since July 2006.

The Queen paid a visit to a village school during a royal visit covered by TV reporter Keith Malone, who spent an hour touring the school with her.
The Queen paid a visit to a village school during a royal visit covered by TV reporter Keith Malone, who spent an hour touring the school with her.

Last week, the Queen joked about the imminent arrival of the newest member of her family, saying she hoped the baby would be born before she went on holiday to her private Balmoral estate in Scotland.

During a visit to the National Railway Museum in York, the Prince of Wales was today asked by the members of the press and the public about the birth of his first grandchild, but he did not divulge any information.

Prince William has been with his wife on annual leave and will take two weeks’ paternity leave from his job as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

It’s believed the next time the couple will be seen in public is when they appear on the steps of the hospital with their baby.