LONDON - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate gave the world its first glimpse of their newborn baby son on Tuesday, cradling the future king in their arms as they left hospital to go home.
The Duchess of Cambridge told the massed international media that it had been a "very emotional" experience, while the duke said that they were still working on a name for the third-in-line to the throne.
The baby raised a tiny hand above his white blankets but remained quiet and peaceful, despite cheers from well-wishers and shouts of hundreds of photographers outside St. Mary's Hospital in London.
The baby was born at 4:24 p.m. (1524 GMT) on Monday after at least 10 hours of labor, weighing a healthy eight pounds six ounces (3.8 kilograms), ending weeks of anticipation around the globe.
Kate, wearing a loose-fitting cornflower-blue dress, held the baby as the royal couple emerged from the front door of the hospital's private Lindo Wing, before passing him to her husband.
"He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure," 31-year-old William -- the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana -- told the press.
"It's a special time," added Kate, also 31. "I think any new parent would know what this feeling feels like."
After speaking briefly to the press, William and Kate returned to the hospital before re-emerging minutes later with their son in a car seat.
William secured the seat in the back of a black Range Rover parked outside the hospital, before driving his family back to their home at Kensington Palace.
Kate's sister Pippa was reportedly waiting for them at the palace.
First visitors
The couple had earlier received their first visitors with heir to the throne Prince Charles and Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton -- all first-time grandparents -- turning up at the hospital.
Congratulations have poured in from around the globe for the baby, a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, who will one day reign over Britain and 15 other Commonwealth realms around the world.
The baby remains officially nameless, although bookmakers have picked George and James -- traditional names that hark back to previous kings -- as favorites.
To mark the birth, the Royal Artillery fired a 41-gun salute at London's Green Park and 62 rounds were fired at the Tower of London. Bells at the 11th century Westminster Abbey, where the couple married in April 2011, rang out for more than three hours.
By mid-afternoon, Kate was well enough for a visit from her parents, self-made millionaires who run a party supplies business. They arrived in a humble black London taxi and initially looked bewildered by the sheer scale of the international media presence.
"He's absolutely beautiful. They're both doing very well and we're so thrilled," a beaming Carole Middleton told the media when she had recovered her bearings.
Asked if she would reveal the name or had made any suggestions, Kate’s mother laughed and said: "Absolutely not."
Charles arrived around two hours later with his wife Camilla in a chauffeur-driven limousine.
"Marvelous, thank you very much, absolutely wonderful," said Charles, who earlier in the day had been on a tour of Yorkshire in northern England.
"I'm thrilled and very excited," Charles said during his official visit in Yorkshire.
His second wife, Camilla, spoke of a "wonderfully uplifting moment for the country", adding that Charles would make a "brilliant" grandfather.
Wrapped in the flag
Hordes of TV crews, photographers and royal fans wrapped in British flags had camped outside the hospital for three weeks waiting for the baby, testament to the enduring appeal of the British monarchy and particularly the glamorous William and Kate.
At Buckingham Palace, crowds straining for a glimpse of the official birth announcement on a gold easel in the forecourt were treated to a special edition of the Changing the Guard ceremony.
The Queen's Guards, resplendent in red tunics and bearskin hats, performed Cliff Richard's "Congratulations", to cheers from well-wishers and tourists outside the gates.
The baby will be titled His Royal Highness, Prince (name) of Cambridge -- the blank to be filled in when his name is announced.
William's name was not announced for a week, while the world had to wait a whole month when Charles was born in 1948.
William and Kate did not know the sex of their child until he was born, although the duchess reportedly told a soldier at a St. Patrick's Day parade in March: "I'd like to have a boy and William would like a girl."
It is the first time since 1894 that three direct heirs to the throne have been alive at the same time, and the 87-year-old queen said she was "delighted" at the birth of her third great-grandchild.
William and Kate are hugely popular and have been widely credited with revitalizing the British royals following decades of scandal and the death of William's mother Diana in a car crash in 1997.
Support for the royal family dipped after Diana's death, a year after her divorce from Charles, as the royal family's handling of the aftermath prompted accusations that they were out of touch.
But last year's celebrations of Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne showed support for the monarchy was running at a record high.
Witnessing history
Apart from the media, the event attracted hundreds of well-wishers from the public.
"We're here to witness history, where a future monarch has been born. I just can't wait to see them today," said Maria Scott, a housewife from Newcastle in northern England who had camped outside the hospital since Saturday.
More than 25,300 tweets a minute were sent immediately after news of the birth broke on Monday night, Twitter said, while the hashtag #RoyalBaby was used 900,000 times in the first 24 hours after Kate went into labour.
US President Barack Obama led the international messages of congratulations, which also poured in from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Israel, Japan and Singapore.
The British mass-circulation newspaper the Sun temporarily renamed itself "The Son", and most newspapers issued special supplements.
William and Kate, who met when they were students at university in Scotland about 10 years ago, have officially been known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since their wedding.
The couple, who have been living in a cottage in north Wales where William is based as a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot, will eventually take up residence with their baby at Apartment 1A in London's Kensington Palace, William's childhood home, when a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) refurbishment is completed later this year.
Royal experts said the new prince would now be taken out of the public glare.
"Having a baby is a very private moment, and they are a private couple, so the next time we see the baby will be the official photo, and that could be weeks," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. (Additional Reuters reports from Belinda Goldsmith, Peter Griffiths, Li-Mei Hoang, Stephen Addison and Dasha Afanasieva)
source: interaksyon.com
