It’s a GIRL! Welcome HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge!

Update (4 May 2015): @KensingtonRoyal announced today that #PrincessCambridge has been named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Princess Charlotte was born on the same day as Princess Charlotte of Wales’ wedding to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1816. Charlotte also happens to be the middle name of Aunt Pippa! While Elizabeth is most likely in honour of her great-grandmother, the Queen, it is also the middle name of her mother, Catherine, and grandmother, Carole. Diana, of course, is in honour/memory of her late grandmother, Prince William’s mother. I really like this picture of the late Queen Mum (also Elizabeth) and ‘Princess Diana’ looking down on the royal trio. 🙂

https://twitter.com/katieleighr97x/status/594888234250940416

The second #GreatKateWait is over. The Duchess of Cambridge safely delivered her second child, a girl, on Saturday, 2 May 2015, at 8:34AM BST. The announcement came from @KensingtonRoyal:

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am.

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 2, 2015

The baby weighs 8lbs 3oz. The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 2, 2015

The birth was also announced by the Town Crier in front of the Lindo Wing doors:

Town crier announces birth of new Princess pic.twitter.com/EmuaIsOpIK

— Victoria Murphy (@byQueenVic) May 2, 2015

Updated: An announcement was also placed on the easel at Buckingham Palace later at 12:30PM BST:

#RoyalBaby birth officially confirmed on easel outside Buckingham Palace http://t.co/H1RNvR1ds1 pic.twitter.com/LHXHOmZd2P

— ITV News (@itvnews) May 2, 2015

It was a very quick labour lasting two-and-a-half hours. The Duchess of Cambridge had been admitted to the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital earlier that morning at 6AM:

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted at 06.00hrs to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London and is in the early stages of labour.

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 2, 2015

It's a girl! Super quick labour of 2 1/2 hrs in hospital, but Kate's medical team wd have been with her at KP before. pic.twitter.com/nmsn8NgSFL

— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) May 2, 2015

Both mother and child are doing well. All immediate members of the family – i.e. the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, the Middleton family – have been informed.

Facts

#RoyalBaby2 will be styled as Her Royal Highness Princess [name] of Cambridge
She is the 4th in line to the throne. No future younger brother can usurp her place in line, thanks to the changes in the Laws of Succession.
She is the 5th great-grandchild of the Queen
And 4th great-granddaughter (cousins: Savannah, Isla, Mia)
She is the first Princess of Cambridge in 182 years. The last PoC was Mary Adelaide, the mother of Mary of Teck.
She shares a birthday with Catherine the Great, born in 1729.
The name will be announced in due course.
She will become the next fashion icon, unbeknownst to her! 😉

What’s in a Name?

My current guesses for names are Victoria (born in May), Elizabeth (in honour of her great-grandmother and who will pass Queen Victoria’s reigning record), Mary (the Queen’s grandmother, also born in May; not proven but since the Duchess is a fan of Downton Abbey, Lady Mary is the firstborn). Let’s see which names make it!

What’s next?

Updated: The Duchess of Cambridge’s hairdresser arrived around 13:19PM BST, suggesting that the royal couple would leave the hospital today with their daughter.

Around 14:00PM BST, Prince William picked up Prince George from Kensington Palace to visit his new sister:

William and George arrive back at the #LindoWing to a cheering crowd #RoyalBaby https://t.co/YLO2VUMiKk

— Catherine Wylie (@wyliecatherine) May 2, 2015

The Duke of Cambridge has brought Prince George to St Mary's Hospital to see his baby sister http://t.co/N0qfsBJiKl http://t.co/berk7xai2X

— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) May 2, 2015

https://twitter.com/katemiddletonss/status/594525822062563329

KP later confirmed that Prince George had already returned to Kensington Palace (with his nanny).

The royal couple made an appearance on the top steps of the Lindo Wing doors before leaving just before 18:20PM BST.

William and Kate leave hospital with their daughter, the new princess. pic.twitter.com/cfRvBFcCEP

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) May 2, 2015

The Duchess of Cambridge was wearing a bespoke white and yellow dress from Jenny Packham.

VIDEO RT @MarkDiStef: She's in heels walking down stairs and delivered a baby 10 hours ago. What a warrior. https://t.co/nCmRzkdZPr

— Kelly Mathews (@allthingsregal) May 2, 2015

Say hello to The Princess of Cambridgehttp://t.co/N0qfsC0U8V #RoyalBaby pic.twitter.com/CQFD9K3UAV

— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) May 2, 2015

The new Princess was wrapped in a G.H. Hurt & Son blanket.

No words needed 💖 pic.twitter.com/GKsmcF2sFl

— British Royal News (@UKRoyalNews) May 2, 2015

A beautiful first look at the new Princess of Cambridge oblivious to the mania around her. pic.twitter.com/mN4HsSNwmW

— Victoria Arbiter (@victoriaarbiter) May 2, 2015

https://twitter.com/WillandKate_/status/594482667086868481

Birth of #RoyalBaby will be marked by Royal Salutes in the Royal Parks and at HM Tower of Ldn. Monday at 2pm local time.

— Melanie Bromley (@melaniebromley) May 2, 2015

Congratulations!

I would like to congratulate the royal couple on the birth of their second child and first daughter. I am also quite thrilled that my gut feeling (can’t find the tweet when I first thought it but I did include it in this blogpost) and prediction came true: tweet 1, tweet 2. Granted, the baby did come one day later and we still do not know whether or not Victoria will be in the name.

I would also like to congratulate all the mothers giving birth to their own little prince or princess today! 🙂

If you are in labour or are due today, you could be eligible to claim a Lucky Silver Penny! More : http://t.co/2tfe9BuyMx #RoyalBaby

— The Royal Mint (@RoyalMintUK) May 2, 2015

The Royal Mint will give away 2,015 lucky silver pennies to first 2,015 babies born on the same day as #RoyalBaby. pic.twitter.com/6xRWaHoKV4

— Princess Charlotte (@British_Spare) May 2, 2015

It’s a girl! If you are welcoming a new addition to your family, post a photo using #WelcomeToTheFamily for our blog pic.twitter.com/7v56mTmxpH

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 2, 2015

Lastly, I would like to thank the journalists and photographers outside Lindo Wing for keeping us up to date today and in the past month! May all of you catch up on your sleep soon!

Have a lovely weekend! God bless!