The Royal Baby Watch Reportedly Starts on April 9
Before we can celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, there will be another major royal event: a new prince or princess.
According to Kensington Palace, the Duchess of Cambridge is due sometime in April, but royal photographer Tim Rooke recently gave Town & Country some intel that might help narrow down the calendar a bit.
Rooke, who has been photographing the royals for over two decades for Shutterstock, and has affectionately earned the nickname "Rookie" from Prince Harry, shared that the media positions-the area where photographers and reporters will stand outside the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital, where Duchess Kate will give birth-are being set up on April 9.
"The media positions are being put up on the ninth of April," he told me over the phone, "and the last time the media positions were sorted out two weeks before the birth."
If the royals follow a similar schedule this go around, that would put the new baby's arrival right around April 23, otherwise known as the feast of St. George, the patron saint of England. But of course, babies arrive when they arrive.
Rooke also shared the ways that photographers document a new prince or princess's public debut have changed over time. For Prince George's birth, people camped out for weeks on end. Now, they must wait until Duchess Kate has gone into the hospital before they can take their positions.
"Because it is a working hospital, nobody is allowed into those positions until we’re told that the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted," Rooke tells me; however, the networks can prepare by cabling in ahead of time.
Whenever he gets the call, Rooke will hop on the tube and head to St. Mary's, a quick 15-minute trip from his home. Lucky for him, he was assigned a front-row position directly opposite from the door.
"The ideal picture for us when they leave hospital is a family picture of William and the Duchess of Cambridge, George, Charlotte, and the new baby," he tells me. "That would be amazing, but we’ll have to wait and see."
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