Royal baby news: Official Instagram account pays tribute to mums on Mother's Day
Buckingham Palace revealed that the Duchess of Sussex gave birth in the early hours of Monday morning
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Your support makes all the difference.In the early hours of Monday 6 May, the Duchess of Sussex gave birth to a baby boy, with Prince Harry by her side.
A statement was released on the royal couple’s official Instagram account, revealing that the baby was born before 6am and weighs 7lbs. 3oz.
The first pictures of the couple with their newborn were revealed on Wednesday. The newborn was seen swaddled in a white blanket wearing a white hat.
The couple later announced on Instagram that they had named their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
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Star Wars actor Mark Hamill was among the many people to react on social media to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex naming their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
He picked up on the baby’s middle name, sharing a photo of himself talking to Harry and Prince William.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, who are currently in Germany, have continued to receive gifts to pass on to their newest grandchild.
While in Leipzig Wednesday, Camilla received a large teddy bear, which was then strapped in for its trip to Frogmore Cottage.
Here’s the official Royal Family photograph of the Queen meeting her eighth great-grandchild Archie.
Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie has congratulated the couple on the birth of their first child.
“I’m just so happy for you!! sussexroyal” she posted on Instagram, complete with a smiling face with three hearts emoji.
The post also featured a black and white image of Meghan with her arm on Harry’s back as they walked away from their photocall with baby Archie.
Animal welfare charity Mayhew said it had named one of its kittens Archie, after the royal baby. It tweeted: “He’s currently 7 weeks old and when he's old enough will be looking for a Royal household of his own.”
The charity earlier paid tribute to its patron, the Duchess of Sussex, and said “we hope they’re enjoying this special time together as a new family”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision not to use a title for their son will have been inspired by Harry’s own struggles growing up as a royal, expert Penny Junor has said.
The author said Harry would have “dearly liked to have been a normal boy” and wanted to give his baby the opportunities of an ordinary life that he never had.
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is not an earl or a lord, but will be known simply as Archie, with Master as a prefix when required.
Harry and Meghan’s son is not entitled to be a prince or an HRH, but could have used the courtesy title Earl of Dumbarton, or been Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
Ms Junor said of the decision: “It’s exactly what I would have expected from Harry. He would have dearly liked to have been a normal boy growing up and found his title very difficult.
“I think that his choice for his son is to let him have the kind of life that he didn’t have.”
British bookmakers have called the naming of baby Archie one of the “biggest surprises in royal betting history”.
Betting firms were offering 100/1 on the name and just £100 was staked from 60 bets on Archie, according to leading firm Ladbrokes
Archie was the 18th most popular name for boys in England and Wales in 2017, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. But it has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity since 1996 when it was only in 192nd place.
Some 2,803 baby boys were named Archie in England and Wales in 2017.
The Chicago Bulls have got involved on Twitter, sharing a modified image of their team mascot holding NBA stars Ryan Arcidiacono and Shaquille Harrison.
The Duchess of Sussex was “over the moon” at having her husband next to her “in dad mode” as they presented baby Archie to the world, the royal reporter present at the big moment has revealed.
Alan Jones, professionally known as Tony, interviewed Harry and Meghan at the eagerly anticipated photocall in Windsor Castle on Wednesday. He said it was clear the couple and their newborn “just adore each other” and said Meghan was proud to watch Harry cradle their son in his arms.
Mr Jones said the stand-out moment of the interview for him was the “touching” way Meghan spoke about her husband and son.
“It’s probably her first few words from Meghan, when she said something along the lines of about having “my guys”. Just the phrase “my guys”... it’s very touching.
“It brought it all home how, in a few hours, her life has changed, and now she’s a family of three and she's got two people that will mean the world to her. And it was just very touching to see that and for her to tell us about it.”
During the photocall, Mr Jones asked Harry if the press could get a clearer look at the baby, whose name was later announced as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
“Harry was cradling the baby in his arms and he probably just didn’t realise that we couldn’t quite see it, all we could see was the top of its nose.
“So I just thought, the world has been waiting to see the baby, we’re here to capture that moment, let’s see the baby, so I just asked him politely, can we just take a peek at its face? And he was quite happy to do it. I knew that this was a proud dad and proud mum and they’d be quite happy to do it, no problem.”
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