Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on April 1. Photo / Getty Images
Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on April 1. Photo / Getty Images
Royal fans have started setting up camp outside the Lindo Wing in preparation for The Duchess of Cambridge to give birth to her third child.
Although her precise due date is not known, with most news outlets suspecting it will be around April 23, eager royalists have already decided to start setting up camp on the streets surrounding the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London. Earlier this week signs suspending parking outside also went up, according to the Telegraph.
Royal fans are pictured outside St. Mary Hospital's Lindo Wing. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile, Prince William seems to have accidentally let slip the gender of the baby when he jokingly said he wanted to name his child "Jack" before pausing to say "or Jackie" during an interview.
So what names could the royal couple be considering?
The Duke and Duchess have chosen solidly traditional royal names for their children in the past, making it likely they will reference previous monarchs this time as well.
Royal fans are pictured outside St. Mary Hospital's Lindo Wing. Photo / Getty Images
Alice, Mary, Alexandra or Victoria for a girl, or Frederick, James, Arthur or Philip for a boy are good bets. According to online betting site Ladbrokes, Alice is currently taking the lead at 4/1 odds.
There is one former king who's highly unlikely to ever have another royal namesake though: King John. That's because in his 17-year reign he managed to so sully his name it's pretty much been removed from royal circulation.
Not only was he exceptionally rapacious and cruel (he had a penchant for starving his enemies to death), John was also one of the most cowardly and incompetent scoundrels to sit on the throne.
How will the third royal baby affect the succession?
The new royal baby will be fifth in line to the throne, behind the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. It means Prince Harry will drop down to sixth in line, and every other member of the Royal family will be one step further away from the throne.
Because of recent changes to the laws governing succession, the baby's sex will make no difference, as boys no longer have precedence over girls.
If the change hadn't been made and the third baby were a boy, he would be fifth in line instead of Princess Charlotte - however that will now not be the case.
The new baby will be an HRH and a Prince or Princess of Cambridge - thanks to the Queen who stepped in ahead of Prince George's birth to ensure all William's children had fitting titles.
The age-old custom behind announcing a royal baby
After the Queen, other members of the Royal family and the Middleton family have been told the good news, the royal communications team will email media organisations with the sex, weight and timing of the birth.
Moments later the news will be announced via royal Twitter and Instagram accounts before a traditional paper announcement is placed on an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
Top image: The royal couple present Princess Charlotte to the world in 2015. Bottom: When Prince George was born in 2013. Photos / Getty Images
The age-old custom of placing a paper proclamation for the public to see at the Queen's London residence took place when Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born.
A brief formal announcement - on foolscap-sized paper set in a dark wooden frame - will be placed on an ornate golden easel on the forecourt of the Palace.
It will confirm the sex of the baby and the time of birth, but will give little else away, other than usually revealing that the baby has been "safely delivered" and mother and child are "doing well".
It used to be hand-written, but is now typed. It will also be signed at the hospital by the doctors who tended to the duchess, and then ferried back to the Palace by car.
