Royal update: Catherine gives birth to a baby boy

prince Charles

 

It's a boy! Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and husband Prince William on Monday welcomed their first child.

The baby boy was born at 4:24 p.m., weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces. A name has not yet been announced for the child, who is now third in line to the throne.

"Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well," read an official announcement.

Earlier in the day, the duchess and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, traveled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital.

The hospital, next to Paddington Station in London, is where William and his brother Prince Harry were born.

The duchess' mother, Carole Middleton, was expected to be on hand at the hospital.

The baby's name may be announced when the family leaves the hospital, CNN royal correspondent Max Foster reported. Prince William's name was announced a few days after birth, his brother Harry's on departure from hospital.

Some British parents have delayed naming their newborns in recent days in hopes of either copying or avoiding the royal name, he said.

British bookmakers favor the names Alexandra, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Victoria, Grace, James and George. The field is open for both boys' and girls' names because royal sources said the parents did not want to know their child's sex in advance.

The child's title will be His or Her Royal Highness Prince or Princess (the baby's name) of Cambridge, St. James's Palace said this month.

Protocol dictates that the first to know about the arrival of the baby would have been Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister David Cameron and the governors general of each of the Commonwealth nations -- along with the rest of the royal and Middleton families.

The queen returned to Buckingham Palace on Monday from Windsor Castle, another of her official residences. Crowds have been gathering outside the palace gates.

Meanwhile Monday, on a visit to the city of York, in northern England, Prince Charles was given a gift to pass on to his grandchild by a child among the crowd of well-wishers.

British Prime Minister David Cameron sent his "best wishes" to the Duchess of Cambridge during her labor.