Family members have visited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new baby daughter at Kensington Palace.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall spent more than an hour with their new granddaughter.The Duchess of Cambridge’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, and her sister Pippa also met the princess.
The BBC’s Peter Hunt says the name of the duke and duchess’s second child – sister to Prince George – will not be announced on Sunday. The princess, who is fourth in line to the throne, was delivered at 08:34 BST on Saturday at St Mary’s Hospital in London, and weighed 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg). For full coverage see our royal baby special report here.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The duke and duchess are hugely grateful for the messages of congratulations they have received from people all over the world. It means a great deal to them that so many people have celebrated the arrival of their new daughter.
“Their Royal Highnesses were visited by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Mr and Mrs Middleton, and Pippa Middleton.” Prince Harry, who narrowly missed the princess’s birth after returning to Australia to finish his secondment to the country’s military, said she was “absolutely beautiful” and he could not wait to meet her.
Bookmakers say Charlotte and Alice have emerged as the favourite names for the princess, followed by Olivia, Victoria and Elizabeth.
Meanwhile, most of the UK’s national Sunday newspapers devoted their front pages to the birth with a photograph of the new princess. The King bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a family home close to St James’s Palace – it became known as the Queen’s House and is now Buckingham Palace.
Charles is the name of two former Kings and of the Prince of Wales, the princess’s grandfather. Charlotte also has a connection on the duchess’s side, as the middle name of her sister Pippa Middleton. Alice, the previous bookmakers’ favourite, was the name of the Duke of Edinburgh’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg and of his great-grandmother, who was the third child of Queen Victoria.
During the First World War, his mother’s family changed Battenberg, the family name, to Mountbatten – the name which Prince Philip adopted when he became a naturalised British subject in 1947.
Other royal Alices include the Queen’s aunt by marriage, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and one of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
Also in the running, according to the bookmakers, are the names Olivia, Victoria and Elizabeth.
