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The new Prince causes a global ripple on social media

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The new Prince causes a global ripple on social media

Map shows republican countries are excited about the new prince too

The Commonwealth is alive and well – and even a few avowed republican countries appear to have gotten caught up in the royal baby excitement, according to figures released this morning by Facebook.

More than 1 million mentions of the royal baby were made on the social networking site around the world within an hour of the baby’s birth, according to Facebook.

And in a global map released showing the geographic hotspots of royal baby status updates, the Commonwealth has come up trumps.

The UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada and India were all registering a flurry of royal baby mentions this morning. Interestingly, the United States and France – long-time republican stalwarts among the international community – registered the second and fifth most mentions of the royal baby respectively.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the demographic breakdown of people buzzing about the royal birth shows 25-34 year old women as those on the social network most excited about the arrival.

Facebook reports:

Top 5 countries buzzing about it during that time (Please refer to the map attached, darker = more buzz. Buzz = posts and comments)

  1. UK
  1. United States
  1. Canada
  1. Italy
  1. France

Top demographics buzzing about it during the hour it was announced:

  1. 25-34 year old women
  1. 18-24 year old women
  1. 35-44 year old women
  1. 18-24 year old men
  1. 45-54 year old women

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It’s a boy: now the world waits on a name

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It’s a boy: now the world waits on a name

Londoners bet on baby names

With the Prince of Cambridge now safely delivered, all attention has focused on what name the new parents, William and Kate, plan to bestow on the future King.

If the money passing hands at British bookmakers is any guide, we could soon have a King James to reign over us.

James has emerged overnight in the UK as the name most punters are betting their future monarch will be called, with George and Henry running a close second and third respectively.

England’s Daily Mail reports the royal birth was the biggest non-sporting betting event in the history of British bookmakers, Coral, with UK punters laying down their hard-earned to predict everything from the sex of the baby to its weight and hair colour.

“The announcement that the Duchess was in labour sent punters to the betting shops, and bookmaker Paddy Power said they took £ 390,000 (A$ 647,000) in bets in the three hours after this morning’s news,” The Daily Mail reports today.

Of course, given the young royal couple’s tendency to do things their own way — as much as stiff royal protocol allows — there’s every chance they will select a name that confounds the punters.

One such option would be to choose name with significance to Kate’s side of the family. Her father’s name is Michael. His middle name is Francis. William’s late mother, Diana’s middle name was Frances — prompting speculation the second in line to the British throne could choose to honour the memory of his mother with a Prince Francis.

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It’s a boy! William and Kate welcome first child

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Royal baby born: William and Kate welcome first child

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed their first child.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed their first child, a boy.

Kate gave birth to a baby boy weighing 8lb 6oz in London’s St Mary’s hospital on Monday at 4.24pm, Kensington Palace has confirmed.

“Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight,” a statement from the Palace said.

“The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.

“The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both family have been informed and are delighted with the news.”

The Prince of Wales said he was “enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather”.

“Both my wife and I are overjoyed at the arrival of my first grandchild. It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy,” Prince Charles said in a statement.

Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future.”

Crowds gathered at the Lindo Wing where the Prince of Cambridge was delivered erupted in cheers when the news arrived, cheering “it’s a boy, it’s a prince!”

It is the first child for the royal couple who married in London’s Westminster Abbey in April 2011.

Kate was admitted to hospital at approximately 5:30 this morning. This was confirmed by the Palace two hours later in a statement saying she was “in the early stages of labour”.

The birth was announced in a statement from the palace at the same time at a birth notice detailing the birth was taken from St Mary’s hospital, which has been placed on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.

Kate announced she was expecting in December after she was admitted to hospital suffering hyperemesis gravidarum, a type of extreme morning sickness.

After a few weeks of bed rest, Kate bounced back and carried out dozens of official engagements as her bump blossomed.

She has kept a low profile since her last event on June 13, staying out of the public eye in the last weeks of her pregnancy.

When they are discharged from hospital, William and Kate are likely to take their baby to her parents’ house in Berkshire, where they will stay for six weeks so Carole Middleton can help Kate with the newborn.

After that, the new family are expected to return to their cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace until renovations to their new family home — the lavish 20-room Apartment 1A — are complete later this year.

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Where will the royal baby live?

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The Weekly joins royal baby watch in London

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s baby is the first royal baby for 300 years to have a commoner for a mother and if William and Kate get their way, it won’t have a typical royal upbringing at all.

It will begin the moment the new family leaves the hospital. Where other babes have headed straight to a royal palace, the Prince of Cambridge will spend its first six weeks in a common home.

Kensington Palace: Renovating for a royal baby

Kate, William and their son will move in to Michael and Carole Middleton’s middle class Berkshire home so Kate can be close to her own mother as she gets used to being a mum herself.

The trio will then return to Nottingham Cottage, the small two-bedroom house in the grounds of Kensington Palace where they have lived since their wedding in April 2011.

They won’t be there for long however. The $1.5 million renovations on their new family home — Kensington Palace’s 20-room Apartment 1A — are due to be complete in September or October.

The new family residence will be homely, not lavish, and include a large nursery for the baby and any other little ones that come along in years to come.

Kensington Palace: Renovating for a royal baby

Kensington Palace holds lots of happy memories for William, who lived there with his mother until her death in 1997.

William and Kate will be keen to fill their new home with a lifetime of happy memories of their own and given how grounded and in love they obviously are, it’s hard to see how they could fail.

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Is this the face of the royal baby?

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Is this the face of the royal baby?

Artists imaginings of the royal baby.

We’ve not yet seen a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first-born, but a forensic expert in the US has already predicted what the newest member of the royal family might look like.

Washington-based forensic scientist Joe Mullins used sophisticated computer-generated imagery to merge photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to simulate how their traits might come together in a child.

The resulting pictures show an “adorable” kid with blue eyes that Mullins says could become a “royal beauty”.

“For Kate and William’s baby, I think there is a lot of good genes in the mix there,” Mullins told the UK’s Daily Mail.

If the child is a boy, Mullins predicts it will inherit William’s features, including his thin ears and receding hairline.

A royal daughter would look more like Kate, with a heart-shaped face, long thick hair and a sun-kissed complexion.

Either sex will likely have dark hair, instead of the blonde of William’s mother Diana, as the brunette gene is stronger.

“There is a science behind the process,” Mullins said. “The darker features are more dominant with Kate’s olive skin and dark hair, I would say you are not going to get a fair skinned baby with blonde hair and blue eyes, like Diana.”

Mullins is a highly respected forensic artist who is famous for his work imagining how celebrity children will look, as well as predicting what celebrities will look like as they age.

Mullins is not the only artist to release a photo fit of the royal baby — Nickolay Lam and Nikolett Mérész from myvouchercodes.co.uk teamed up with Harvard MIT geneticist Jenny Chen to create lifelike pictures that show what William and Kate’s baby would look like at 25.

Pictures of the royal baby at 25.

The face of the royal baby at 25
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How long to wait until royal baby number two?

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How long to wait until royal baby number two?

Prince Willaim and Prince Harry were born just over two years after each other.

Mere hours after the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child, the world is already asking: How long do we have to wait for a second royal baby?

The new royal parents have expressed desire for ‘an heir and a spare’ in the past, with Prince William reportedly letting slip without hesitation he wanted two children while on tour in Singapore last year.

William’s mother Diana similarly said she wanted two kids and was true to her word as she welcomed a second prince, Harry, to the royal family two years after giving birth to Prince William in 1982.

William and Harry’s younger cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie born about two years apart as well, with Beatrice arriving to parents the Duke and Duchess of York in August 1988 and Eugenie following in March 1990.

Princess Anne arrived to the Queen two years after her older brother Charles, but waited a little longer after the birth of her first son Peter Phillips at the end of 1977 to welcome Zara in May 1981.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports healthier outcomes for both the mother and child when there is a gap of 18 – 23 months between births #151; something it appears royals have taken note of.

William and Catherine have so far stuck with royal family planning tradition with an engagement spanning a respectable six months and announcing their pregnancy 18 months after marriage.

Could we be hearing the pitter patter of little prince or princess feet in Kensington palace in another two years’ time?

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Raising a smile: Amusing tweets to greet the royal arrival

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Raising a smile: Amusing celebrity royal baby tweets

Raising a smile: Amusing celebrity royal baby tweets

As news of the royal birth hit the world’s media yesterday afternoon, social networking site Twitter promptly erupted.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail website, 487 million took to Twitter to share in the baby frenzy, with more than 500,000 tweets mentioning the royal baby within just the first few hours of the official public announcement.

Amongst the kind messages of congratulations posted by public figures and politicians, comments of a more light-hearted nature flooded in from celebrities keen to share in the excitement – Stephen Fry, Kelly Osborne, British model Cara Delevingne and singer Cheryl Cole among the early star tweeters.

Some of the more humourous posts to greet the royal arrival included the following:

  • Joan Rivers

Congratulations to Kate & William on the birth of their baby boy! So relieved that his name won’t include the words Ivy or Apple.

  • Jack Osborne

Wouldnt it be great if England had 30 days of games to celebrate the birth! dueling, jowsting, a flagon of mead…#GameOfThrones #RoyalBaby

  • Labour’s former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott

Great to hear the Duchess of Cambridge has gone into labour. Is she an affiliated member?

  • Aston Villa (Prince William’s favourite football team)

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Another Villa fan arrives into the world!

  • Ellen Page

Woah people seem super excited for this new british band, the royal baby.

  • Jeff Daniels

I’ll pay good money if they name the Royal Baby Royal.

  • Piers Morgan

PREDICTION: A boy, called George, weighing 8lbs 2oz #MysticMorgan

  • William Shatner

So pleased to hear that William and Kate had a baby boy. Long live the future king. MBB

  • Ellen DeGeneres

It’s a boy! So happy for my cousin Kate and the future King of England!

  • Steve Martin

I would be so honored if they named the royal baby, “Steve Martin.”

  • Olivia Wilde

I don’t understand how I’m still doing phone interviews when Kate Middleton is in labor. Don’t they have to go cover the crowning?!

Elsewhere on the Internet, the new royal had his own page on Wikipedia before he was even born. The entry titled ‘Royal Baby: Child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’ was viewed more than 95,000 times just hours after the birth, with spoof Twitter accounts also springing up for the young Prince of Cambridge.

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It started with a tweet: The picture that ended the great Kate wait

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It started with a tweet: The picture that ended the great Kate wait

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

If your average picture is worth a thousand words, it’s safe to say this one can take credit for that about a thousand times over.

International TV networks, newspapers, and websites have already filled almost twelve hours of coverage based on a 45-word statement from Kensington Palace confirming the Duchess of Cambridge had gone into labor, following the scoop from photographer Jesal Parshotam who captured Kate and Prince William entering the private Lindo Wing at St Mary’s hospital at around 5:30 on Monday morning, London time.

Related: Crowd grows outside hospital as Kate goes into labour

“Kate Middleton has gone into hospital…” the royal photographer tweeted, shortly before the Palace confirmed so two hours later.

“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, in the early stages of labour.

Parshotam and fellow photographer Darren Sacks captured the moment when the royal couple arrived at the hospital and entered the site of the royal birth, but decided not to photograph the Duchess saying it was “most the right right thing to do”.

The photographer has not given any interviews regarding his scoop — we imagine he’s been busy sorting out copyright for the world’s most wanted picture, and concentrating on capturing the next one — but he has voiced his excitement on Twitter.

“It’s not every day [a fellow photographer] and I get to break and international news story,” he said.

“Best of luck to Kate and Will. Hope everything goes well.”

Parshotam seemed to be overwhelmed by his sudden shot to fame, abandoning hundres of other photographers at the Lindo Wing to take to the gym in the later hours of the morning, citing #toomuchtwitteraction, according to his tweets.

Veteran royal photographer Ian Pelham-Turner’s career took a turn for the best when he first photographed Prince William as a baby in 1982, and says exclusive shots of the family at this important time in royal history could be the ultimate career prize for photographers.

“My entire life as a photographer, I knew, would depend on these photographs,” he tells CBC of the moment he took the shots that made him as a royal snapper.

Royal baby on the way: Kate is in labour

Photographers stay stationed on their ladders in the still-growing press pen outside the Lindo Wing, first hoping to capture a royal aide emerging from the front doors with a medical notice that will be transported to Buckingham Palace, detailing the baby’s sex, weight, and time of birth.

The next big shots will be the first family portraits of the family, which could also be captured on those front steps where Prince William was first photographed with parents Charles and Diana as a newborn.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all your royal baby news from Liz Burke in London.

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The royal baby – what to expect next

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The royal baby - what to expect next

Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, has been admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in London in the early stages of labour.

RELATED: Royal baby on the way! Duchess Kate is in labour!

It is now believed that the next time Kate and William will be seen in public is when they appear on the steps of the hospital with their baby.

Hundreds of royal fans and well-wishers are gathering at the entrance to the hospital, eager to catch one of the first glimpses of the child.

The Duke and Duchess chose not to find out the sex of their baby before the birth. The Queen and other senior members of the royal and Middleton families will be the first to know after the couple.

Under police escort a royal aide will then deliver the written announcement, signed by St Mary’s medical staff, to the palace.

The announcement of a royal birth is traditionally attached to the railings of Buckingham Palace, but on this occasion it will be posted on an ornate easel in the palace’s forecourt.

After the notice is displayed, the news will be posted on Clarence House’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, and the media will be informed.

Antenatal teacher, Christine Hill, spoke in an interview yesterday about her appointments with the Duke and Duchess. “She’s a delightful girl. What you see is what you get,” she told The Telegraph of Kate.

She also said the two make “a very strong team”, adding that, “Prince William will be doing the right stuff on the day.”

Under new succession laws, the baby will be third in line to the British throne, regardless of gender.

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Royal baby on the way! Duchess Kate is in labour!

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Duchess Kate is in labour!

It’s time! Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has gone into labour.

Kensington Palace have confirmed that Catherine is in the early stages of labour.

“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London in the early stages of labour,” the official statement reads.

“The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge.”

William is by her side as she prepares to give birth to their first child and the third in line to the British throne.

The 31-year-old Duchess is sticking to tradition by choosing the private Lindo wing at St Mary’s in Paddington, West London which usually caters to complex or multiple births and could cost up to $16,000.

RELATED: All you need to know about the royal baby!

The wing has a number of deluxe suites, each with dedicated kitchen staff on hand. Catherine has also decided to use royal surgeon-gynaecologists Marcus Setchell and Alan Farthing to help deliver her baby. Dr Setchell will take control of Catherine’s delivery, assisted by Dr Farthing.

Dr Setchell has been a royal surgeon-gynaecologist for 18 years and delivered two babies for Sophie, Countess of Wessex – Lady Louise Windsor, nine, and Viscount Severn, four.

RELATED: Zara Phillips is pregnant too!

When the third-in-line to the throne is born, a royal salute of 41 guns will be fired to mark the occasion.

The Queen will be the first to know if the pair have welcomed a boy or a girl.

Related video: Kate Middleton and Prince William Set to Be Great Parents.

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