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.