World Awaits First Glimpse of Royal Baby - East Idaho News
World

World Awaits First Glimpse of Royal Baby

  Published at

GETTY 72313 Middletons?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1374595059166Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesBREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The royal baby appeared in public for the first time Tuesday as Prince William and Kate Middleton departed St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

(LONDON) — Kate Middleton’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, visited their new grandson in the hospital on Tuesday.

The Middletons are the first visitors who have been spotted at St. Mary’s Hospital’s Lindo Wing in London, where the royal baby was born Monday.  They spent a little more than an hour at the hospital.

As they left, Carole Middleton told reporters of her first grandchild and his parents, “He’s absolutely beautiful and they’re doing so well.”

When asked whether she could reveal the baby’s name, Middleton laughed and said, “Absolutely not!”

The world is eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of the third in line to the British throne, as he leaves St. Mary’s Hospital in London with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Camera crews have been lined up across the street from St. Mary’s Lindo Wing for weeks, waiting for the money shot when Kate Middleton and Prince William emerge from the hospital with their 8-pound, 6-ounce newborn son.  Officials said William, who was by his wife’s side during the birth, also spent the night in the hospital.

On Tuesday, the couple released a statement, saying, “We would like to thank the staff at the Lindo Wing and the whole hospital for the tremendous care the three of us have received. We know it has been a very busy period for the hospital and we would like to thank everyone — staff, patients and visitors — for their understanding during this time.”

In line with royal tradition, the new parents are expected to appear on the steps of the hospital and pose for photographs with their newborn.  It’s unclear when the royal baby will greet the world’s media.

He might take after his father, who left the same hospital in the arms of Prince Charles and Princess Diana a day after his birth.

The media will continue to camp outside the hospital to capture a similar photograph of William and Kate’s son, who is third in line to the throne behind Charles and William.

The royal couple will raise their bundle of joy in apartment 1A of Kensington Palace, which has more than 20 rooms.  It’s also the same palace in which William grew up, noted for its ornate interior design and picturesque gardens.

And it’s at Kensington Palace where Queen Elizabeth II is expected to meet her great-grandson for the first time.  The baby is the queen’s third great-grandchild.

More celebrations are expected later Tuesday, including gun salutes by royal artillery companies to honor the birth.  Riders in uniform will trot past the palace to Green Park, where six field guns will fire 41 blank rounds.

London’s landmarks, including the London Eye, lit up Monday in the national colors of red, white and blue, and the city had a party atmosphere with celebratory crowds gathering outside Buckingham Palace.

The other important aspect of the royal baby that has kept the masses guessing is the name.  When William was born in 1982, his parents didn’t reveal his name until a week later.  His father, Prince Charles, was a month old before his name was made public.

Business for bookies in the U.K. was booming Monday as thousands placed bets on the name, with the favorites being George, James, Alexander, Louis and Henry.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION