Royal fans Rachel Evans, left, and Rachel Ash, wait outside St. Mary’s Hospital with a gift basket.
Credit: Richard Peckett/MWN
London is still buzzing with Monday’s news of the royal baby boy – but it’s going to need another adrenaline shot soon.
The crowds that flocked to Buckingham Palace have moved their royal pilgrimage to the now familiar site of the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital, in central London.
The expectant media and public are poised for the first appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since the onset of labor and, more importantly, the first public sighting of the newborn monarch-to-be.
In fact, some of the overjoyed royal supporters have come bearing gifts: “We’ve brought a polo-playing doll, which will be hand-delivered to the royals,” Rachel Evans and Rachel Ash from Cambridge told Metro.
For the fans, there’s a sense they feel a part of a close family occasion, rather than spectators of a distant royal affair; so welcoming are the “modern royals,” explained Irene Penny from West Sussex, south of London. “Kate, even though she’s privileged, is like my daughters – she’s into sport,” added the 60-year-old.
It’s a sentiment shared by the now hoards of royalists held at bay from the road by steel barriers and watchful police. Not that the scene is unruly. “It’s like a village here, it’s lovely,” says Margaret Tyler of Wembley, north London.
“I shall be heartbroken when it’s all over; William and Catherine will own the world one day,” continued the 69-year-old, who at home has amassed a collection of more than 10,000 items of royal memorabilia.
Catherine and William’s baby son, like the royal wedding of 2011, has further endeared the young royals to a global audience.
Saccharine, perhaps, but as Penny plainly highlighted: “They bring a lot of revenue into the country, and everyone enjoys the pomp and ceremony of the occasion.”
As for the name, George is currently favorite at 9/4, followed closely by James at 11/4, according to bookies Ladbrokes.com — though one fan Gladys Richardson of Essex is quietly punting for “Shining Star.”
Hmm, that’s about as likely as Prince William holding the baby aloft Simba-style outside the hospital – a petition for the Duke to do so was rejected by Downing Street earlier today. The couple are rumored to leave the hospital after 6 tonight, or tomorrow morning. For now, the second stage of “The Great Kate Wait” continues…
