General

Kate and William leave St. Mary’s Hospital hospital with their baby boy

World gets its first look at the prince

Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

The world got its first glimpse of the royal baby, the prince who is third in line to the British throne.

Prince William and Kate, duchess of Cambridge, left the Lindo wing of London’s St. Mary’s Hospital Tuesday evening, shortly after 7 p.m. local time.

Kate held her son in a white blanket, before passing him to William. The couple paused to answer a few questions as the crowd cheered.

Kate told reporters she felt “very emotional.”

“It’s very special,” William told reporters. “I’ll remind him of this tardiness when he’s a bit older.”

He said that he hoped the reporters and the hospital could go back to normal now that they were leaving.

RELATED:

William joked that, “he’s got her looks, thankfully.”

Both William and Kate wore light blue. Kate wore a blue and white polka-dot dress and nude-coloured wedge shoes. William wore a blue button-down shirt.

They then walked back into the hospital where the baby was loaded into a car seat before William drove the family away in a black SUV. William and Kate were expected to travel to Kensington Palace.

John Stillwell/Reuters/Pool

Earlier in the day, the couple was visited by Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, for about an hour. Upon leaving the hospital, Carole Middleton told the press that the couple was doing “fabulously.”

“They are both doing really well and we are so thrilled,” Carole Middleton said.

The Middletons were followed by Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, who visited the hospital for approximately 30 minutes. Charles stopped briefly to speak to the media camped outside the hospital’s Lindo wing, saying the visit was “marvelous” and telling reporters that they will see the baby boy “in a minute.”

After Charles and Camilla left, dozens of nurses — some in scrubs, some with children in tow — began to line up on either side of the front door. More nurses peeked out the windows, many sticking out hands to wave at the masses below, giving a sure sign that the royal couple and their new son were on their way out.

William and Kate have not yet revealed the name of their son, who was born Monday, July 22, 2013 at 4:24 p.m. local time. He weighed 8lbs 6oz. As of Tuesday, odds for the name were on George.

The crowd began to disperse moments after William drove his wife and their unnamed son away. As spectators poured towards nearby tube stations, TV presenters begged for last-minute interviews. “What did the baby look like?” one reporter asked. “A baby,” laughed a passerby.

At the Starbucks across the street, writers hunched over laptops and mumbled quietly, while others spread out on the floor of the hospital lobby. In the hour, they will file their stories and St. Mary’s Hospital will be mostly “back to normal,” just as William wished.

With files from the Associated Press

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: