Royal Baby Due Date: Kate Middleton Will Give Birth This Week

Jul 16, 2013 09:33 AM EDT

While the world is awaiting the arrival of the Prince or Princess of Cambridge, it appears that the royal family is also highly anticipating.

Prince Charles' wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, hinted today when the world can expect Kate Middleton to give birth.

"We're all waiting by the end of the telephone," Camilla said at an event Monday in Cornwall with her husband, Prince Charles. "I think by the end of the week, he or she will be there."


The Washington Post has described the child of Prince William and Kate Middleton who married in April 2011 in front of a global TV audience of two billion as the "world's most famous baby".

The world is awaiting for the arrival of the first child of Prince William and Kate Middleton.(Photo:Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Photographers and TV crews from Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and China, have been camping outside St Mary's Hospital in London since July 1 waiting for the royal couple's first child.

The due date for this baby has always been unclear. The palace said only "mid-July." Kate Middleton herself mentioned July 13 to someone who asked during an engagement. Her mother, Carole Middleton, was quoted as saying the baby would be a Leo, meaning born after July 23.

The birth announcement

The birth will be announced in the traditional way with an envelope containing the baby's details taken from the hospital to Buckingham Palace, where the news will be posted outside.

It will also include a modern twist: The royal birth will be announced on Twitter and other online sites, where millions of people will undoubtedly react to the big news.

The Queen will be the first to be officially told of her great-grandchild’s birth. Doctors attending the birth of the baby will sign a birth notice, which will be taken to Buckingham Palace. It will then be placed on an easel on the palace forecourt for public view, this will be the first chance for the nation and those watching around the world to find out whether the newborn is a boy or a girl.

Besides Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister David Cameron and the governors general of each of the commonwealth nations will be told, along with the rest of the royal and Middleton families.

Bookmakers expect a girl and have made Alexandra the favourite for the baby's name, followed by Charlotte, Diana and Elizabeth. George and James are the most popular picks if the baby is a boy.