Sydney: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were able to give the glaring eyes of media a slip when they entered the gates of the St Mary`s Hospital shortly after 5.30 am on Monday.
The royal couple kept the birth of their baby boy a secret for more than four hours before announcing the news by e-mail just before 8.30 pm last night.
The world`s media was camped outside the hospital for weeks in the hope of being the first to come out with the news of her hospital admission, but when William and Kate finally arrived, nobody apart from a freelance photographer, Jesal Parshotam, got the news. He tweeted the news at 5:55 am.
At 7.28 am, the Palace confirmed officially that Kate was in labour and had been admitted.
Aside from one tweet, the final weeks of her pregnancy was a master class in stage management, during which the media was not able to photograph her or second-guess her plans, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The 31-year-old royal chose to spend almost all of last week with her parents at their Georgian manor house in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and was joined by her husband on Monday.
According to a source, in the middle of the afternoon on Friday, she and William slipped out, unnoticed, and returned to their London home at Kensington Palace, which is less than five minutes` drive from St Mary`s hospital.
That meant that Kate`s baby would be born in the Lindo Wing, rather than at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, which was `plan B.`
The first sign that royal baby`s birth was imminent came at 10 pm on Sunday night, when royalty protection officers drove around the entrances of St Mary`s in a `dummy run`, which was witnessed by photos and TV crews.
However, shortly after 5.30 am, the Duke and Duchess came in a dark blue Ford Galaxy people carrier, rather than the Range Rovers, Land Rover Discoveries and Jaguars.
An ageing Saab 95 was used as the police back-up car to cause further confusion.
When Kate`s staff began getting calls asking if the tweets were correct, they merely put them aside by saying that they wouldn`t comment on speculation.
The photographers also missed Marcus Setchell, the Queen`s former gynaecologist and the man who was chosen to supervise the birth, as he arrived at the hospital shortly after Kate, having been woken at his home in north London to be told that his services was needed.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.