Inside the New Royal Baby Boy's Birth Kate Middleton Birth Plan for Th...

Inside the New Royal Baby Boy's Birth   Kate Middleton Birth Plan for Third Child



with the majority of London media still fast asleep and the sun barely risen, the Duchess of Cambridge’s early morning admittance to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital couldn’t have been more low-key.



Sources exclusively tell BAZAAR.com it was a cloak-and-dagger operation to get Kate inside the medical facility at approximately 5:20 AM, precisely on her due date of April 23. “She was driven in via the back delivery entrance of the Imperial College Medical School building,” reveals a hospital insider, noting two senior aides accompanied the couple to the hospital, with Prince William in the driver's seat. “Once inside she was escorted by protection officers through a secure tunnel to the entrance of the Lindo Wing. It was all very hush-hush.”



Midwives from the birthing team, who had been given just five minutes notice before the couple's arrival, escorted a “relaxed” Kate to the same third-floor labor suite in which gave birth to children Prince George and Princess Charlotte in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Meanwhile, staff from the Kensington Palace press team, including head of communications Jason Knauf, were already awake and preparing to roll out their well-oiled media action plan. Not a word would be sent to the press until household staff arrived outside the Lindo Wing at 8:20 AM to issue a statement announcing the Duchess had been admitted “earlier this morning in the early stages of labor.”



“It’s peaceful inside the room. We try and create as calm an environment as possible.”



Thankfully, inside the luxe $10,000-a-night suite, Kate wouldn’t have heard the crash of 30 TV crews simultaneously setting up their equipment and photographers quickly erecting their ladders outside the main entrance of the wing. “It’s peaceful inside the room,” a hospital staffer tells BAZAAR.com. “The windows are triple-glazed and it’s very quiet. You wouldn’t hear anything from the streets. We try and create as calm an environment as possible.”



Guiding the Duchess through the delivery were four very familiar faces, all of whom helped deliver the Cambridge family’s first two children. On hand were Mr. Guy Thorpe-Beeston, surgeon gynecologist to The Royal Household; Alan Farthing, surgeon gynecologist to the Queen; Dr. Sunit Godambe, consultant neonatologist at Imperial College NHS Trust; and Professor Huw Thomas, physician to the Queen.



Outside the suite—prepped pre-arrival with a simple request of bottled mineral water—royal protection officers patrolled while the Duchess of Cambridge's private secretary, Caroline Quinn, waited patiently for news of a birth. Meanwhile, personal assistant Natasha Archer—who is responsible for the Duchess’s wardrobe—had already snuck out a side door of the hospital to return to Kensington Palace and collect that all-important departure outfit for Kate. Nanny Maria Borrallo was also back at the Cambridge’s Apartment 1A home with Princess Charlotte, who doesn’t return to pre-school until later this week. Prince George had already been dropped off at school in Battersea earlier in the morning and would no doubt have been told his mother was at the hospital to deliver a new sibling.



And then, less than six hours after she arrived at the hospital, the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a healthy baby boy, fifth in line of succession, weighing 8 pounds and 7 ounces. It was a smooth delivery for the Duchess, who gave birth to Princess Charlotte just two-and-a-half hours after arriving at the hospital in 2015.



Kensington Palace held the big announcement back until 1:02 PM to give Prince William time to personally call the Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with the happy news, an aide tells BAZAAR.



With all members of the Royal Family notified, the Kensington Palace press team were given the nod to put out a statement announcing the arrival of the couple’s son, confirming that, “Her Royal highness and her child and both doing well.”



And it wouldn’t have been a family celebration without George and Charlotte visiting. Ducking out of the hospital at 4:42 PM, William left Kate in the capable hands of the Lindo Wing midwives as he drove off to Kensington Palace to pick up the children. Perhaps a quick word for the press? “Back in a minute,” the Duke promised, before putting on his driving glasses and zipping down the road with police escorts.



Just 30 minutes later he returned with his children in tow, both excited to meet their new sibling. Charlotte waved to the cameras before entering the doors of the hospital with her father, George a little more subdued with his head down. Charlotte sported a light-blue Little Alice London dress and a navy cardigan, which matched her brother's school uniform nicely.