The #RoyalBaby already has more Twitter followers than you
Royal baby: Kate Middleton has gone into labor. Twitter is abuzz.
A news cameraman reads a newspaper across from St. Mary's Hospital's exclusive Lindo Wing in London, Monday, July 22. Buckingham Palace officials say Prince William's wife, Kate, has been admitted to the hospital in the early stages of labor.
Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
After weeks of anticipation, the Duchess of Cambridge has gone into labor with Britain’s future monarch, pushing a long summer of frenzy around the royal baby to its zenith. The baby will be the queen’s third great-grandchild and the third in line for the British throne.
Embattled journalists, weary from weeks of camping outside of St. Mary’s Hospital in London – where Kate Middleton is now in the early stages of labor – have sprung to attention today for the long-awaited birth. And according to Agence France-Presse, they’ve been joined by mobs of enthusiastic royalists, some of whom have traveled from other parts of the Commonwealth to witness the birth.
"We've been getting updates every morning on Canadian TV and it's great to see that it's a worldwide affair, that everyone's curious about what's happening," said David Wyatt from Toronto, who was holidaying in London with his wife and three young daughters.
"We were wondering whether we were going to be here in London when it happened, and it's wonderful. My family were empire loyalists in Canada and my father's from England. We're proud Canadians."
Elsewhere, crowds of hungry spectators and reporters have assembled outside Buckingham Palace to watch for news of the baby, according to the Telegraph. As tradition has it, royal babies’ births are announced by a messenger who tacks a piece of paper confirming the baby’s weight, gender, and time of birth onto an easel outside the queen’s official residence.
But the enthusiasm is not limited to London. The Twittersphere is ablaze with talk of the birth, with #RoyalBaby, Kate Middleton, and the queen all trending.