- Birth announced by a press release sent out from the palace at 8.30pm GMT
- Official announcement then placed on easel outside Buckingham Palace for the waiting crowds to see
- Duchess of Cambridge and her son are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight
- Queen and Duke of Edinburgh said to be 'delighted' at news of their great grandson's birth
- Kate was admitted to hospital at around 5.30am and arrived in car with Prince William
- The 31-year-old planned to give birth to the royal baby naturally and she was not induced into labour
- Future king was born at the same hospital in Paddington where Princess Diana had Princes William and Harry
- Prince William was by his wife's side at the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London
- He will now take two weeks' paternity leave and accept the full entitlement of £136.78 per week
- The royal couple did not know the sex of the baby who will replace Harry as third in line to the throne
Royal couple helped to St Mary's by protection officer who went with Prince Harry on infamous Vegas trip last year
Police officer shows off his security briefing note in full view of hundreds of cameras this afternoon
An overjoyed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy, and the nation celebrates the birth of a future king.
The couple’s son weighed 8lb 6oz and was delivered at 4.24pm today at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington with his proud father, Prince William, looking on.
Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight, said a spokesman for the palace. Palace sources said the couple chose to delay the public announcement of the birth to allow them to spend 'quality time' together.
William's father, Charles, the Prince of Wales said this evening: 'Both my wife and I are overjoyed at the arrival of my first grandchild.
'It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy.
'Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future.'
It had been planned that the birth would be announced on an easel placed outside the gates of Buckingham palace but, in the event, the press were informed by a statement from the Royal household sent out at 8.30pm GMT.
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
The long-awaited baby will be given the title His Royal Highness and be known as Prince of Cambridge, after the Queen moved earlier this year to change almost a century of royal tradition.
She issued a formal proclamation in January to end a convention brought in by George V which meant that a royal title was restricted to the children of the sovereign and the children of the sovereign’s sons.
The new baby is third in the line of succession, relegating his proud uncle, Prince Harry to fourth, and great-uncle, Prince Andrew, to sixth – although he may not become sovereign for half a century or more.
Recent legislation allowing female heirs to automatically accede to the throne if they are first born will clearly not affect the Cambridge’s son, but will have a bearing on any of his children.
