It’s a king! Yes, there’s a brand new royal scion in the world, as Prince William and Duchess Kate had their first baby. The official birth announcements will say that the boy was born at 4:24 pm London time in what must have been one very private part of St. Mary’s Hospital. William was present for the birth–because who would have forgiven him if he wasn’t–and the newborn Prince of Cambridge weighs in 8.6 pounds.
No, you can’t see the baby yet. We won’t even know his name for a few days. (We like the idea of “Spencer.”) But here are some other royal baby photos worth noting–not from ancient times, but all pretty neat as royalty whose birth announcements didn’t swamp cable news… [homepage photo: Chris Jackson- WPA Pool/Getty Images: feature photo: Anne of Orleans by Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty Images]
This is Princess Anne of Orleans at the Castilla La Mancha in Madrid, Spain. She’s the daughter of the Counts of Paris Henry and Isabel, seen her holding her third son Pedro as part of a family portrait taken in 1968. From the right at the top, you have Prince Carlos de Borbon Dos Sicilias (husband of Anne), Isabel Countess of Paris (that’s Anne’s mother), and Alicia de Borbon (mother of Prince Carlos). Left to right from the bottom: little Maria, Cristina and Pedro with their mother.
Check out the head of hair on the offspring of Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako. They’re leaving a hospital in Tokyo on December 8th, 2001. The little gal is the lovely Princess Aiko, who’s just about a week old here. As it turns out, Masako is also in the news today–although we wish it was under happier circumstances.
Here’s an official photo from the Moroccan Royal Palace, as released on May 15, 2003. That striking redhead is Moroccan Princess Laila Salma. She was the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to ever be given any kind of public status, so good for her. That newborn prince is Moulay Al Hassan, posing with proud father King Mohammed VI.
Welcome to another Official Palace Photo from Brussels, Belgium, as taken on August 22, 2003. That’s Princess Mathilde and Prince Philippe–along with their daughter Elisabeth–admiring newborn son Prince Gabriel. He’s all of two days old. That must be some kind of official royal pose, too. It certainly looks a lot like this one…
And here’s yet another official photo here. We could have used somebody to take some of those. Here we are in the Netherlands with Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander and the lovely Princess Maxima–who are cooing over the brand-new Catharina-Amalia on December 19, 2003.
Check out Princess Claire and Prince Laurent of Belgium. We like these two a lot. They’re posing with their newborn baby daughter Louise Sophie Mary at the St Luc hospital on February 11, 2004. Yes, that’s in Brussels, Belgium. We bet they’re related to Princess Mathilde and Prince Philippe. Anyway, we really like how this royal pair looks more like a suburban couple just trying to get the kid home, but Grandma wants one more picture.
And we go back to Madrid, Spain for this christening photo that sure looks different than the last one we had. You’re looking at Spanish Royals Princess Letizia, Princess Leonor, Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos at the Christening of the daughter of Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain. That would be Princess Leonor, who was actually born a little premature on October 31st, 2005–but here she is doing fine at the Royal Palace on January 14, 2006. Yes, she was already pretty much set for life.
