LONDON: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II paid a private visit on Wednesday to Prince William and his wife Kate to meet their newborn son, her great-grandson who will one day inherit the throne.
The 87-year-old spent just over half an hour at Kensington Palace in London where the still unnamed infant, the third in line to the throne, was spending his first day after leaving hospital.
The queen had said Tuesday she was “thrilled” about the latest addition to the family. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge revealed the new prince to the world on Tuesday when they left St Mary’s Hospital in London to huge cheers and a roar from the international media massed outside.
Wearing a cornflower-blue polka-dot dress, a beaming Kate, 31, said the couple were “very emotional” following the birth of their first child on Monday.
William, also 31, said they were still choosing a name for the child dubbed Baby Cambridge and revealed he had already changed his first nappies. The baby behaved impeccably, raising a tiny hand above his white blankets — his first royal wave of a lifetime that will be spent in the public eye.
William’s father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and Kate’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton visited the hospital on Tuesday to meet their new grandson.
Wednesday’s meeting was the first between the queen and her new heir, and she became the first British monarch to meet a third-generation direct heir since Queen Victoria a century ago.
The monarch, wearing a turquoise floral outfit, made the visit without her husband Prince Philip, 92, who is convalescing following exploratory surgery on his abdomen last month.
Outside the hospital, the baby had remained peaceful, seemingly oblivious to the deafening cheers from well-wishers and shouts from journalists who had camped for three weeks outside the hospital.
“It’s a special time,” said Kate. “I think any new parent would know what this feeling feels like.”
Wearing jeans and a casual blue shirt, William told reporters: “He’s got her looks, thankfully,” as his wife laughed and interjected, “No, no, no, I’m not sure about that.”
Related report — Page 19
Queen meets Britain’s new-born baby prince
