Royal Baby

(work in progress)

Overview

The Royal Baby is a nickname for the expected child of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton^[1] and Prince William.^[2] As her due date approached in July 2013, people across social media sites began anticipating the birth with a number of related hashtags and live streaming video of the hospital. At 4:24 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on July 22nd, Middleton gave birth to a baby boy.

Background

In September 2012, rumors about Middleton’s pregnancy began to appear online after she chose a nonalcoholic drink while at a state banquet dinner in Singapore.^[3] On December 3rd, 2012, the pregnancy was announced^[4] by palace officials after Middleton was admitted to the hospital with severe form of morning sickness known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum.^[5]

Notable Developments

Middleton Goes into Labor

On July 22nd, 2013, London-based photographer Jesel Parshotam tweeted^[6] that Middleton had arrived at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital^[7] in Paddington, London. He and colleague Darren Sacks were camped out at the back entrance of the wing when a BMW pulled up. They chose not to photograph the duchess’ arrival^[8] out of respect and instead chose to tweet the information. Approximately two hours later, Kensington Palace issued an official confirmation that she had gone into labor.

Kate Middleton has gone into hospital… #royal #worldexclusive IkonPictures</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LindoWing&src=hash">#LindoWing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RoyalBaby&src=hash">#RoyalBaby</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RoyalBabyWatch&src=hash">#RoyalBabyWatch</a></p>— Jesal Parshotam (therealjesal) July 22, 2013

Twitter Response

On July 22nd, a number of hashtags relating to Middleton and her baby trended on Twitter including #GreatKateWait^[13] (shown below, left), #RoyalBabyWatch^[14] (shown below, right), #LindoWing^[15] and #RoyalBaby.^[16] A handful of news sites highlighted the Twitter response to the baby’s birth including Fox News Insider^[17], the Huffington Post Canada^[18] and CTV News.^[19] Men’s blog EveryJoe^[20] featured a collection of 19 tweets from people unimpressed by the media blitz surrounding the birth. Additionally, The Huffington Post^[21], USA Today^[22] and Business Insider^[23] among others compiled celebrity reactions to the baby from Twitter including Jersey Shore‘s Nicole Polizzi, Perez Hilton and CNN’s Piers Morgan.

News Media Coverage

After Middleton went into labor, a number of news sites and gossip blogs offered live updates from the hospital including Sky News^[24], Hollywood Life^[25], ABC News^[26], Hello!^[27], the Daily Beast^[28] and fashion blog What Kate Wore.^[29]

Birth

At 4:24 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, Middleton gave birth to a baby boy. According to an official announcement, the baby weight 8 pounds and 7 ounces. The birth was announced by an email press release and is third in line for the British throne, behind his father and grandfather, Prince Charles.^[9] After the birth, the hashtag #itsaboy^[10] trended on Twitter. The Onion shared a handful of satirical “first photos” of the baby^[11]^[12], depicting him as a horned, winged demon.