Monday, July 22, 2013

The official announcement

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.
Notes to editors
1.  The medical staff present were Mr Marcus Setchell, Surgeon-Gynaecologist, Mr Guy Thorpe-Beeston, Obstetrician and Dr Sunit Godambe, Consultant Neonatologist at St. Mary’s Hospital.
2. The names of the baby will be announced in due course
3. The baby is third in the line of succession after His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge.  He is styled His Royal Highness Prince [name] of Cambridge.

4. A formal notice of the birth will be posted on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace

7 comments:

MrDannyDetail said...

Marlene, am I correct in thinking that irrespective of what given name(s) the Cambridge's child is christened with, the very fact that he is a boy means he is correctly referred to as HRH The Earl of Strathearn, his father's second title. And if not why not? I ask because I'm surprised that no media source seems to have picked up on this if it is correct.
Thanks

MrDannyDetail said...

Marlene, am I correct in thinking that, irrespective of what given names the Cambridge's baby boy is christened with, the very fact he is a boy means he is correctly referred to as HRH The Earl of Strathearn? And if not why not? I ask because if I do understand correctly then I'm surprised no media source has picked up on it yet.
I guess I could be understanding wrong, because I've always wondered why the Duke of Cambridge was never referred to as Lord Greenwich, but I've figured that although he was entitled to use that title if he wished, it was either his mother's wish that he didn't use it so he could have a 'normal' childhood, or else it was felt that it would be a bit nonsensical to use it because his father had more than enough titles and so had never bothered to use Earl of Merioneth and I suppose you need dad to be using his courtesy title for it to make sense to use yours.

Michelle said...

Marlene, i've read a lot of comments from people saying diana's maiden name should be one of the new prince's names. how likely do you think this really is, for ANY of william or harry's children, especially the one in line for the throne? from what i understand, though william obviously is extremely devoted to his mother's memory, he isn't overly fond of that side of his family. not to mention, i'm not sure the royals would take too kindly to that.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Danny, you are incorrect. The baby is a royal, HRH, a Prince, so he doesn't have the courtesy title. It would come into effect only for a non-royal. William is a prince, and now a peer of the realm. The secondary titles would come into effect only when the descendants are not royal. The present Dukes of Gloucester and Kent are royal, but their kids are not, so the children bear the title and rank of regular dukes, so the heirs are Earl of Ulster and Earl of St Andrews. Prince Michael of Kent's children have the rank and title of younger children of a duke, so Lord Frederick Windsor's children will have the surname Windsor without any title. Same for Lord Nicholas Windsor's kids. There is no need for a royal to use a courtesy title when he has a royal title. The Cambridge peerages will revert to the Crown when William becomes king. When he succeeds his father becomes king, William will become the Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, and will be styled as Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Cambridge except in Scotland where he will be the Duke of Rothesay. So the kids will be of Cornwall and Cambridge. This will change when William is named as Prince of wales, and his kids become of Wales. Prince Harry will probably be created a royal duke. His children will be royal unless they are born during the current reign (but would be upgraded automatically when Charles becomes king. See 1917 Letters Patent. But Harry's grandchildren will not be royal.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Royals receive Christian names at baptism. Baby prince will one day be head of the church of England. He will receive Christian names.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Danny, if George VI had not issued a Letters Patent to give the title Prince or Princess and the HRH to Elizabeth's children, Charles and Anne would have been styled as Earl of Merioneth and Lady Anne Mountbatten until Mom succeeded to throne. They became HRH Prince Charles and HRH Princess Anne of Edinburgh

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Danny, if George VI had not issued a Letters Patent to give the title Prince or Princess and the HRH to Elizabeth's children, Charles and Anne would have been styled as Earl of Merioneth and Lady Anne Mountbatten until Mom succeeded to throne. They became HRH Prince Charles and HRH Princess Anne of Edinburgh