Overview

The Royal Baby is a nickname given to George Alexander Louis, the newborn 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 several related hashtags and live streaming feeds of the hospital's entrance. He was born at 4:24 p.m. (GMT) on July 22nd.

Background

In September 2012, rumors about Kate Middleton’s pregnancy began circulating online after she reportedly chose a nonalcoholic drink while attending a state banquet dinner in Singapore.^[3] On December 3rd, 2012, Middleton's pregnancy was officially confirmed^[4] by the Buckingham Palace after she was admitted to the hospital with severe form of morning sickness known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum.^[5]

Notable Developments

Name & Birthdate Betting

Following the announcement of Middleton’s pregnancy in December 2012, online betting on the baby’s name, weight and godparents began on Paddy Power.^[30] On the first day, Mary and John were the top-voted names for each gender.^[31] By late June, additional pools had been created to include the baby’s hair color and hour of birth,^[32] and by July 13th, Paddy Power reported that more than £300,000 ($500,000 USD) of bets relating to the baby had been placed. Later that week, William Hill estimated the value of the betting pool to be more than £20,000 ($30,728 USD)^[33] while Coral reported £995,000 ($1.53 million USD).^[34] Around the same time, representatives from betting companies began showing up outside St. Mary’s hospital with chalkboards and printed signs (shown below) to update spectators and reporters on that day’s stakes. In the hours after Middleton went into labor on July 22nd, Ladbrokes reported that more than 50,000 new bets were placed.^[35]

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.

Online Reactions

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.

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.

Live News 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], The Telegraph^[29] and fashion blog What Kate Wore.^[29]

Second Royal Baby

On September 8th, 2014, the official Twitter account^[39] for Clarence House, the residence of Middleton and Prince William, sent out a tweet announcing the couple is expecting their second child.

In less than 24 hours the tweet gained over 8,000 retweets and over 5,000 favorites. The hashtag #RoyalBaby also became a trending topic on Twitter. It also tweeted out a link to a longer press release^[40] about Middleton's second pregnancy which reads:

"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their second child.

The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news.

As with her first pregnancy, The Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Her Royal Highness will no longer accompany The Duke of Cambridge on their planned engagement in Oxford today. The Duchess of Cambridge is being treated by doctors at Kensington Palace."

The news was covered by many major news sites the same day including The BBC^[36], The New York Times^[37] and The Guardian.^[38] The same day Buzzfeed^[41] posted a collection of the best reactions to the news online.

Third Royal Baby

On April 23rd, 2018, the official Kensington Palace Twitter^[43] account tweeted, "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 1101hrs. The baby weighs 8lbs 7oz. The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well." The post (shown below) received more than 42,000 retweets and 160,000 likes.

Baby Naming

That day, the AFP news agency tweeted,^[44] "#BREAKING Prince William's wife Kate gives birth to son: palace." The post (shown below, left) received more than 320 retweets and 835 likes in 24 hours.

Due to the syntax of the tweet, people joked that the name of the baby is "Palace." Throughout the day, users shared the tweet and commented on the baby's name being "Palace." Twitter^[45] user @TechnicallyRon tweeted, "palace is a crap name." The post (shown below, center) received more than 1,400 retweets and 7,900 likes in 24 hours. Twitter^[46] user @RyanJL tweeted, "George, Charlotte and Palace ❤️" The post (shown below, right) received more than 640 retweets and 4,440 likes in 24 hours.

Others joked about what other humorous names that the baby could be given. That day, Twitter^[46] user @jxssmitchell tweeted, "Imagine if Kate and Will just announced the royal baby was called Keith." Within 24 hours, the post (shown below) received more than 1,300 retweets and 9,200 likes.

That day, Twitter^[48] published a Moments page about the joke guess for what the baby would be named.

Town Crier

On April 23rd, an unofficial and self-proclaimed town crier named Tony Appleton took to the steps of the Lindo Wing outside St. Mary's Hospital to announce the birth.^[49]

Shortly after the images and videos of Appleton went viral, people began captioning pictures of him. Twitter^[50] user @transcribe tweeted the image with the caption "This image is meme-able." The post (shown below, left) received more than 150 retweets and 860 likes in 24 hours.

Additionally, that day, Twitter^[51] user @theguyliner tweeted the image with the caption, "Me 10 seconds after the friend who swore me to secrecy leaves the room." The post (shown below, center) received more than 350 retweets and 2,100 likes in 24 hours. Twitter^[52] user @hansmollman tweeted, "'I LOVE THIS WOMAN AND HER CURVY BODY. AS A TEENAGER, I WAS OFTEN TEASED BY MY FRIENDS FOR MY ATTRACTION TO GIRLS ON THE THICKER SIDE,'" a reference to the I Love This Woman and Her Curvy Body meme. The post (shown below, right) received more than 180 retweets and 1,300 likes in 24 hours.

Fourth Royal Baby

On May 6th, 2019, Prince Harry announced the birth of his first born son with Meghan Markel.

Over the next several days, many speculated what the baby's name would be, leading to a series of memes about "/memes/unusual-royal-baby-names/.

On May 8th, the official Royal Family Instagram account posted the child's name: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The post received more than 2.7 million likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Following the announcement, many online joked about the baby sharing the name of iconic comic book and television character Archie, known by some modern audiences from the teleivison series Riverdale. That day, Archie Comics official Twitter account tweeted "i'm baby". The tweet received more than 11,000 retweets and 48,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).^[54]

Throughout the day, others shared Riverdale and Archie jokes in response to the baby's name (examples below).

Several media outlets reported on the internet response to the name, including PopBuzz,^[55] Seventeen,^[56] AV Club,^[57] Cosmopolitan,^[58] Time,^[59] E!,^[60] US Weekly^[61] and more.

Search Interest

External References