LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are expecting the birth of their first child this Spring, the latest addition to a royal family which traces its roots back to 1066.
Harry and Meghan, a former US actress, married in a glittering ceremony last May and announced in October that their baby was due in early 2019.
Meghan told royal well-wishers in January that she was six months pregnant, suggesting that the baby, who will be seventh-in-line to the throne, would arrive sometime in April.
Here is a timeline of British royal babies:
June 1, 1926
Crowds gather to see the newborn baby Princess Elizabeth, who was born on April 21, 1926, and would later become the current Queen Elizabeth II, on her way to her christening at Buckingham Palace.
The first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, who would later be crowned King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was carried by a nanny from her Mayfair home.
Dec. 15, 1948
Prince Charles, now heir to the throne, was christened in the music room at Buckingham Palace with the choir from St. James’s Palace brought in for the ceremony.
Proud parents Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip posed for photos and newsreel footage, alongside the Queen’s father, King George VI and his mother Queen Mary, meaning four generations of former, current and future royals were seen all together.
June 22, 1982
Charles and his first wife Diana posed with baby Prince William leaving the Lindo wing of
St Mary’s Hospital in central London after the birth of their first child the day before. In August, the new baby appeared in front of the cameras again with his parents and great-grandmother, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.Sept. 17, 1984
Two days after the birth of their second son, Charles and Diana showed off Prince Harry to the world’s media after he was also born at St Mary’s Hospital.
In December, the new baby and his elder brother appeared together for Harry’s christening.
July 23, 2013
Amid huge global media interest, Prince William and his wife Kate emerged from hospital with their first child, Prince George, a day after his birth, also at St Mary’s.
Baby George, third-in-line to the throne behind his father and grandfather, was christened three months later at St James’s Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury in front of his great-grandmother, the queen.
He wore a replica of a 172-year-old custom-made, one-of-a-kind christening gown which was made for Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter and has been worn at the christenings of more than 30 babies, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince William.
May 2, 2015
William and Kate’s second child, Princess Charlotte, was born at St Mary’s, again attracting large crowds of well-wishers to the hospital.
April 23, 2018
Prince Louis, the third of William and Kate’s children, was born at St Mary’s. He was christened in July last year at St James’s Palace at a service attended by senior members of the royal family.
Leave a Comment