IT'S A BOY !!! : Future king and head of 54 Commonwealth countries born

An overjoyed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy, and the nation celebrates the birth of a future king.

The couple’s son weighed 8lb 6oz and was delivered at 4.24 p.m. on Monday at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, with his proud father, Prince William, looking on.

Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight, said a spokesman for the palace.

The long-awaited baby will be given the title, His Royal Highness and be known as Prince of Cambridge, after the Queen moved earlier this year to change almost a century of royal tradition, Mail Online reported.

She issued a formal proclamation in January to end a convention brought in by George V which meant that a royal title was restricted to the children of the sovereign and the children of the sovereign’s sons.

The new baby is third in the line of succession, relegating his proud uncle, Prince Harry to fourth, and great-uncle, Prince Andrew, to sixth – although he may not become sovereign for half a century or more.

Recent legislation allowing female heirs to automatically accede to the throne if they are first born will clearly not affect the Cambridge’s son, but will have a bearing on any of his children.

Although a cause for national celebration, the baby’s arrival is, more importantly, a time of overwhelming personal joy for William and Kate, who made no secret of their desire to start a family when they married two years ago.

The Queen was, according to protocol, the first to be informed of the newest addition to her family when William personally telephoned her from his wife’s delivery suite, followed by proud grandfather Prince Charles and Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who are now linked by blood to the British throne.

The birth was announced to the world’s media by a press release from the Palace.
With family – including the entire Middleton clan and new uncle Prince Harry  - set to arrive at the hospital with hours, it is understood that the couple do not intend to introduce the Queen to her new great grand-son until the Duchess returns home.

Despite having eight grand-children and two great grand-daughters already, it will be a momentous event for the 87-year-old sovereign.

The last time a still-serving monarch got to meet a great grandchild born in direct succession to the crown was nearly 120 years ago.

Queen Victoria, who reigned until 1901, was still sovereign when her great grandchild Edward VIII, who later abdicated, was born third in line in 1894.

William and Kate’s baby will be the great great great great great grandchild of Queen Victoria and the present Queen’s third great grandchild.

It is also likely to have huge resonance for her personally, marking the emergence of a reinvigorated British Royal Family after decades dominated by bitter marital strife.

William and Kate are personally determined that their son be allowed to enjoy as “normal” an upbringing as possible while being taught to respect and accept his destiny as a future King, head of the armed forces, supreme governor of the Church of England and head of the Commonwealth, which covers 54 nations across the world.

The present Queen is still head of state of 16 countries across the globe but it is likely that by the time her great grand-son accedes to the throne, which could be more than fifty or more years from now, precious little of those will remain.

In an interview to mark their engagement in 2010, Kate stressed that her own family – parents Michael and Carole and siblings Pippa and James – were the lynchpin of her existence.

Asked about her family she said: ‘Yes. It’s very important to me. And I hope we will be able to have a happy family ourselves.’

When asked about his future plans in the military, William added in an interview last year : “More importantly, I’d rather like to have children. So that’s the key thing really.”

He also revealed that he would like two children – while his wife subsequently divulged that while she wanted a boy, William liked the idea of a girl.