royal family

The first official photos of the newest member of the royal family- Prince George- have been released. Taken by Kate's father and the baby's grandfather, Michael Middleton, they show the happy couple alongside their dog Lupo at the Middleton family home in Berkshire.

The photos come a day after Prince William gave his first interview since the birth of his son, revealing that George is a "little bit of a rascal". Speaking to CNN he joked in the same way that any new parent does, about how his son does not "want to go to sleep that much, which is a little bit of a problem".

Describing the emotions he was feeling when first revealing the new-born, William explained that "As any new parent knows, you're only too happy to show off your new child and proclaim that he is the best-looking or the best everything."

"It's nice that people want to see George, so I'm just glad he wasn't screaming his head off the whole way through."

People were so preoccupied by the royal baby that they failed to realize that the King of Belgium resigned in favour of his son this week.

It seems that people all around the world, including Slovakia, were curious about the new prince in London.
Women with small children who still remember their own labour felt especially sorry for the Duchess surrounded by journalists. The couple confirmed my opinion that William and Kate give a good name to the Royal Family and should not be hassled by the public and press.

When I asked my friends whether they knew about the Belgian king stepping down, they did not. Well, people are so preoccupied by celebrities that they fail to take notice of the everyday happening. On the one hand, it testifies to the popularity of the Royal Family even in central Europe. On the other hand, is such a media craze necessary?

Prince William took paternity leave from his duties as a helicopter pilot in order to be with his wife. I don't think, he can realistically get much closer to the common man. New kings are not born every day, but common people are, most of them into poverty. And I believe William and Kate know that.

A future king was born yesterday after Kate Middleton and Prince William gave birth to a healthy son. After months of speculation and weeks of rumours, the world's attention was on St Mary's hospital in Paddington when Kate went into labour early Monday morning.

It had been expected that the first news would come from the traditional placing of a medical bulletin on an old wooden frame on Buckingham Palace's forecourt. However, in the end tradition was slightly rewritten, with the first news coming at around 8.30pm last night in a statement from Kensington Palace that read:

"Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24pm. The baby weighs 8lbs 6oz. 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 families have been informed and are delighted with the news. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight."

Britain awoke to the exciting news this morning that Kate Middleton had finally been admitted to hospital after going into labour.

After several false rumours in the last 10 days, a statement came from Kensington Palace at 7.30am this morning that read:

"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 duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo wing at St Mary's hospital with the Duke of Cambridge."

A spokesman has since added that "things are progressing as normal". We will be bringing all the latest updates live over the course of the day as things progress:

The British media got very excited last week when rumours started going round that Kate Middleton had gone into labour. On Friday afternoon, Twitter was awash with claims she had moved to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, and, inevitably, blogs and national papers soon followed suit.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG OF THE BIRTH HERE

It turned out that none of it was true, but it has led to fevered speculation about when the royal baby is due. The fact is that other than the royal family and a few doctors, no one really knows. Despite repeated attempts to find out from reporters, the couple and their spokespeople have remained tight-lipped.

However, there have been a few clues dropped. Earlier this year, whilst she was meeting the public, Kate let slip that she was due around "mid-July". This led many to guess that the baby was due this weekend just gone. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, gave an even clearer indication yesterday though, revealing:

"We don't know what's going to happen. We're all waiting at the end of a telephone. I hope by the end of the week he or she will be there."