Kate Middleton safely delivers royal couple's third child

LONDON: Kate, the wife of Britain’s Prince William, gave birth to the royal couple's third child on Monday.

The Kensington Palace, in a tweet, confirmed that the Duchess of Cambridge had safely delivered a son at 1101 hours. 

The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth of the couple's third child, who weighs 8lbs 7oz. 

The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital in the early stages of labour on Monday. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the couple are officially known, drove from their home Kensington Palace in central London to St Mary’s Hospital in west London where their other two children, George and Charlotte, were also born.

The new royal is the fifth-in-line to the British throne behind siblings Prince George, 4, and his two-year-old sister Princess Charlotte, William, and grandfather and heir Prince Charles.

William’s younger brother Harry, who marries US actress Meghan Markle next month, will fall to sixth on the list.

As with her two previous pregnancies, Kate, 36, suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness which can cause severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.

Kate’s last engagement ahead of the birth was on March 22 when she and William attended a number of events in London to celebrate the Commonwealth ahead of a meeting of its leaders last week.

Mary, Alice, and Victoria were among the favourite names with bookmakers if the baby was a girl, while Albert, Arthur and Fred were the favourites for a boy.

The baby was born at the private Lindo wing of St Mary’s, where maternity packages cost in the region of 6,000 pounds ($8,400). William, 35, was born at the same hospital to the late Princess Diana in 1982.

William and Kate met as students at St Andrews University in Scotland. They got married in a pageant-packed ceremony at Westminster Abbey in April 2011 and have since become well-known across the global stage.

Having had homes in north Wales and Norfolk in eastern England, William and Kate now live at Kensington Palace to allow the prince to dedicate more time to royal duties on behalf of his grandmother.

Last year William gave up his day job as an air ambulance pilot to concentrate on his official role.

“I think he takes on a lot more engagements than he used to,” said royal biographer Claudia Joseph.

“But compared to members of the general public who have full-time jobs, he still has some time off to look after the children, to give them their baths, to put them to bed and I think he’ll continue to do that,” Joseph said.