It's a boy: Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton gives birth to her third child

LONDON - Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, gave birth to a boy on Monday (April 23) at a hospital in London, the third child for the British royal couple.

Kensington Palace said the baby was born at 1001 GMT and weighs 3.8kg. Prince William was present for the birth at St Mary’s Hospital in west London where their other two children, George and Charlotte, were also born, it added.

“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,” Kensington Palace said.

“Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.”

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The new prince is Queen Elizabeth’s sixth great-grandchild and fifth-in-line to the British throne behind siblings Prince George, 4, his two-year-old sister Princess Charlotte, their father William, and grandfather and heir Prince Charles.

A 2013 change to the law means the boy will not supplant older sister Charlotte in the line of succession.

“That would in fact be the first time that has ever happened,” royal historian Huge Vickers said.

However, Prince William’s younger brother Harry, who marries American actress Meghan Markle next month, falls to sixth on the list.

Kensington Palace said the name of the new royal would be announced in due course. Bookmakers had made Albert, Arthur, Jack and Fred the favourite names for a boy.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday congratulated Prince William and his wife Kate on the birth of their new boy.

“My warmest congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby boy,” Mrs May said. “I wish them great happiness for the future.”

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