PRINCE Charles and wife Camilla are expected in East Yorkshire this morning as the world celebrates the arrival of the royal baby.
Just before 8.30pm last night, Buckingham Palace announced the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, had given birth to a son weighing 8lbs 6oz.
The baby boy, third in line to the throne after Prince Charles and Prince William, was born at St Mary's Hospital in London at 4.24pm yesterday. The palace said he would be named "in due course".
Prince William is understood to have telephoned his grandmother The Queen, his father Prince Charles and his brother Prince Harry to tell them about the birth of his son. The Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth naturally, spent the night in hospital with her firstborn child.
The official announcement, on display at Buckingham Palace last night, read: "Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24pm today.
"Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well."
Residents in Bridlington, Withernsea and Burton Fleming are hoping Prince Charles and Camilla's visit will still go ahead after Clarence House said the royal couple would "play it by ear".
Kate and William, who spent the weekend at Kensington Palace, travelled without a police escort to hospital at about 6am yesterday after Kate went into labour.
Clarence House tweeted: "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, in the early stages of labour."
Twitter went into meltdown and the official royal baby watch began as cameras started rolling and the world's media gathered outside the Lindo Wing at the hospital.
New mum Baggi Srinivasaraghavan, 31, of Swanland, was at the Hull and East Yorkshire Women and Children's Hospital while Kate, 31, was in labour. She gave birth to baby boy Aadhya, who weighed 6lbs 6oz.
"All the way through my pregnancy I thought I might give birth on the same day, it's been very close," she said.
"I absolutely love Kate and I've been following the royal baby story from the beginning.
"Kate has been so well-dressed throughout her pregnancy and she had the tiniest bump.
"This is my first child and it's been an amazing experience but I'm very tired.
"Kate must be very anxious but excited.
"I had to be induced and it felt like it took forever but it was worth all the effort."
Prince Charles arrived without his wife at the National Railway Museum in York by steam train as he began his two-day visit to Yorkshire yesterday.
As he awaited news of the birth of his first grandchild, Charles stepped off the Royal Carriage through clouds of steam, to applause and cheers from the crowd.
He is expected to be joined by Camilla today in Burton Fleming, where the Prince of Wales will meet members of the community affected by the floods in January and emergency service workers at The Burton Arms pub.
The Duchess of Cornwall will visit the award-winning Fish and Chips at 149 in Bridlington, and the pair will stop off at Bridlington Priory Church to help celebrate its 900th anniversary.
Their Royal Highnesses are expected to finish their trip with a visit to Withernsea, where they will meet fishermen and members of the community in Valley Gardens and the Southern Holderness Resource Centre.
Rebecca Young, administrator at Bridlington Priory, said she hopes the visit will still go ahead today.
She said: "It's just one of those things if it is cancelled and we always knew it was a possibility with it being so close to the birth of the royal baby. I don't think anyone would be really upset but it would be disappointing as a lot of people have been looking forward to it.
"We have hundreds of people coming to the church for the visit and I've been checking Twitter to find out if there are any updates from Clarence House.
"It would be the icing on the cake for us to have Charles and Camilla here following a festival to celebrate the Priory's milestone."
Bar staff at The Burton Arms in Bridlington Road have also been preparing for today.
Dawn Baron and partner Tony Gibson, who run the pub, said they are expecting about 40 people to attend the event.
"There will be residents here who were affected by the floods and possibly some local councillors," Dawn, 35, told the Mail.
"It would be great if Prince Charles wet the baby's head in our pub.
"My three-year-old son Thomas will be giving him a booklet about the history of Burton Fleming and everyone is very excited.
"We've also been talking about what they might call the baby."
Dawn said it is the first time she will have met a member of the royal family and although she is a bit nervous, it will be a big day for her.
She said: "There are decorations up in the pub and we've been busy making sure everything is ready for the visit."
Yesterday a Clarence House spokeswoman said they could not yet confirm whether or not the visit would go ahead and said they would "play it by ear".
She said: "We will just have to wait and see."
