The arrival of the new royal baby will be announced via Twitter. Photo / Twitter, Getty Images
The arrival of the new royal baby will be announced via Twitter. Photo / Twitter, Getty Images
There'll be no need to queue up at the gates of Buckingham Palace and crane your neck to discover the sex of the new royal baby. In fact, all you'll need is access to the internet.
When Prince George's brother or sister makes their entrance to the world, their arrival will be announced first on Twitter according to a report in The Sunday Times.
News of the royal delivery will then also be posted on the traditional easel behind the gates of Buckingham Palace, just like Prince George and Prince William before him - or her.
When Prince George was born in July 2013 his birth was first announced to journalists in an emailed press release.
A formal notice signed by the doctors who delivered him was then taken by police escort to Buckingham Palace and displayed at the gates to retain "the theatre" of a genuine royal occasion.
A palace spokesman said at the time: "We wanted to retain some of the theatre of the notice. It is quite important to us that this is done properly and with the degree of dignity that the event demands. This is the birth of a child who will be in line to the throne. It is a rare occasion and it is nice to be able to do it with some historical precedence."
The easel displaying the announcement of the son of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stands in front of Buckingham Palace on July 23, 2013.
Photo / Getty
Clarence House also tweeted the news, and the British Monarchy's Facebook page was also updated.
Royal sources say the only difference between the birth of Prince George and his brother or sister will be that there will be less ceremony around the delivery of the piece of paper from the Lindo Wing of St Mary's to Buckingham Palace.
The signed document is expected to be taken out of a side door and delivered to the palace in an unmarked vehicle.
And it's not the first time the Duke and Duchess have chosen Twitter to deliver news.
When the couple got engaged in October 2010 the announcement was first made on Twitter the following month.
With the Duchess due to give birth any day, one gambler has bet £10,000 (about NZ$20,000) that she will give birth to a girl.
The man, in his late 30s and from Manchester, will collect more than £15,000 (NZ$30,000) in winnings, which includes his original bet, if the royal baby is a princess.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes said the anonymous punter normally gambles on horse racing and football, and this is his first bet on the Royal Family.
The man said: "I'm not really bothered by the royals, but I'd just had a big win and my missus reckons it's a girl, so that's a good enough reason for me."
Ladbrokes set the odds of the baby being a girl at 8/15 and 11/8 for a boy.
William and Kate's fourth wedding anniversary on Wednesday April 29 is now one of the favourite arrival dates at 4/1.
As the wait for the royal baby continues, Prince Harry has a rapidly reducing window of opportunity to meet his new niece or nephew before he returns overseas.
He flew back to the UK to attend the London Marathon after commemorating the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey. He chatted to St John Ambulance volunteers and handed out medals to winners of the elite races. Harry is scheduled to return to Australia tomorrow.
The baby will officially be overdue if Kate has not given birth by May 1, and even Kate herself has said the baby is due mid to late April.
Parking restrictions outside the Lindo Wing run out after April 30.
