Queen arrives to visit Britain's new prince
LONDON — Britain's Queen Elizabeth II met her new great-grandson for the first time today at Kensington Palace, where the royal baby spent a first night at home with his parents, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
The 87-year-old monarch made a short trip from Buckingham Palace by chauffeur-driven Bentley and spent about half an hour visiting the two-day-old Prince of Cambridge. The baby, her third great-grandchild, is third in line to the British throne.
The baby's name hasn't been revealed yet. “We're still working on a name,” William told reporters Tuesday as he and Kate took the baby home from St. Mary's Hospital, promising to let the world know “as soon as we can.”
That could be anything from a few hours to several weeks — the queen did not announce the name of William's father, Prince Charles, until a month after his birth in 1948.
Bookmaker William Hill has George — the name of six previous British kings — as the favorite at 2-1 odds, with James at 4-1.
Images of the prince, his little hand peeking above a white crocheted wrap, blanketed the front pages of British newspapers today. The Daily Mail offered a photo album image with the headline “Baby's first royal wave.”
The prince slept through his debut public appearance — though William assured the media he had “a good pair of lungs on him.”
William is taking two weeks' paternity leave from his job as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot, and the palace said he and Kate would now spend “private and quiet time for them to get to know their son.”
As well as selecting a name — or more likely four names — William and Kate will soon choose a photographer for the baby's first official portrait.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said the couple would probably choose someone “eminent and hopefully British.” William's baby portrait was taken by society photographer Lord Snowdon, the former husband of the queen's sister Princess Margaret.
