William in Blue and Kate in Buttercup Yellow to Take Home HRH, Princess of Cambridge

With throngs of well-wishers crowded at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital, Kate, William, and the newest royal, the Princess of Cambridge, met the media and the public.

For those who weren’t able to follow the live blog, we’ll do a quick recap of things, beginning with word from Kensington Palace that the Duchess had been admitted to the hospital at 6am London time, 1am EDT.

Media and the public started descending on the Lindow Wing.More from Gordon Rayner’s story in the Daily Telegraph:

In a virtual re-run of her hospital admission in July 2013, the Duchess, in a silver Mercedes estate car (Range Rovers and Jaguars are the usual royal vehicles), arrived at 6am, just 15 minutes later in the morning than she had done with Prince George, and slipped unseen into the aptly-named Cambridge Entrance.

Many media had been at the hospital all week, if not longer.

Less than three hours later came word (again via the Kensington Palace Twitter account) that Kate and William were the parents of a baby girl.

Prince William was said to be with the Duchess when the Princess was born. As the day wore on more media came to the hospital, international interest in the event was extremely high.

Back to Gordon Rayner’s story:

In another perfect piece of stage management, the Queen, who had surely travelled with several alternative outfits, appeared at Richmond Castle wearing pink from head to toe, and beaming with pleasure at her fifth great-grandchild.

Midday Prince William went to Kensington Palace to pick up Prince George, bringing him to the Lindo Wing to meet his new sister.

The young man and his father were color-coordinated, perhaps steeling themselves for the wave of pink they are about to encounter.

At some points, George looked a little disconcerted.

At other times he seemed very comfortable in his father’s arms, even displaying his royal wave technique.

After visiting for about an hour George returned home to Kensington Palace.

The Duchess was only in the hospital 12 hours (actually a bit less), and it was just about 10 hours after she gave birth that she emerged on the iconic Lindo Wing steps with her husband; it was time to introduce HRH, the Princess of Cambridge.

The new parents couldn’t have looked any happier.

From Victoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror:

Wrapped in a white shawl and wearing a cream bonnet, the fourth in line to the throne slept soundly through the screams and camera flashes that greeted her public debut less than 10 hours after she was born.

Kate looked flawless in a cream and yellow floral Jenny Packham dress as she cradled her baby daughter outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s hospital in Paddington, central London.

It was a chilly day in London, with a brisk wind at times, but that didn’t seem to bother the Duke or Duchess.

Elated might be an understatement.

Both parents were beaming.

From a story in The Express:

Asked how the day had gone, the Prince grinned and replied “very well”.

He seemed every bit the proud papa.

While Kate was radiant.

The news covered the front pages of many Sunday papers.

A few more headlines. (To see all of the paper’s front pages, visit this BBC page.)

Kensington Palace used social media to offer a formal “welcome” the little girl.

The British Monarchy social media accounts remained active throughout the day and into the evening. This is from the Monarchy’s Facebook page.

The public was asked to contribute to the celebration.

If you are welcoming any new additions to your family today we would love to hear from you. Post a picture to our Twitter account @KensingtonRoyal (www.twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal) or our Instagram at KensingtonRoyal (www.instagram.com/KensingtonRoyal), using our hashtag #WelcomeToTheFamily and we could include your post in our social media blog on Storify!

Below, Belfast City Hall, shared by Lynette Robinson on Twitter.

On to what Kate wore as she met the media and then headed home from the hospital.

Kate wore a bespoke Jenny Packham “silk shift dress with buttercup print,” as described by the designer on Twitter.

The knee-length dress had a soft yellow floral motif. I am perplexed as to an appropriate descriptor: I don’t think it would properly be called dégradé, nor does ombré seem quite right, and I don’t think it is what we call a ‘placed print’. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I can help us out with the proper term. UPDATE: With appreciation for your comments, emails and messages, it is properly called a border print!

The dress had three-quarter length sleeves, darts at the bust and it was fully lined. It didn’t look as though it zipped up the back, it’s possible the dress had a side zipper.

Some of us wondered if we might see the rumored pink polka dot Jenny Packham dress the Duchess would have worn in July 2013 if she had given birth to a girl. It was said to be a mirror image of this frock, only in pink.

 

Kate was in her Jimmy Choo Gilbert heels.

The almond toe pumps are sold out in Kate’s nude almost everywhere I have checked, including Jimmy Choo. Luisa Via Roma shows what I believe is the nude color in a few sizes. Kate also wore her Kiki McDonough diamond hoops with Annoushka’s pearl drops.

And for anyone wondering, the newest Princess of Cambridge went home wrapped in a GH Hurt & Son piece, just like her older brother.

It is the company’s Soft Wool Baby Shawl.

Seeing the reaction to the arrival of the Princess of Cambridge brought back memories of a classic line from Gone With the Wind, when Melanie tells Mammy, “The happiest days are when babies come.”

It looks like we might hear the baby’s name as early as tomorrow (Sunday, May 3). I will continue to add photos and links throughout the evening.

To read all about what Prince George wore to meet his new sister, click here for our What Kate’s Kids Wore site, it will be absorbing What Prince George Wore in the next few weeks. (And please bear with us, WKKW is still not complete in terms of design, layout, etc.)

Some may recall that a number of the major news outlets have created hub pages, laden with links, stories, photos, and more. Here is a listing of those pages.

Special pages that have been created for the event:

• The Mirror’s Royal Baby page is here
• The Telegraph’s Royal Baby coverage is located here
• Huffington Post UK has its Royal Baby page here
• People magazine’s landing page for Royal Baby coverage is here
• Hello! magazine’s page is here
• Us Weekly’s royals landing page is here
• The Monarchist League of Canada’s page is here

For a complete list of sources, twitter accounts, and other links, visit our One Stop Guide to Following the Royal Birth Online.

LINKAGE:

• ITN‘s video of the baby being introduced at the Lindo Wing is here
• The Daily Mail’s coverage is here
• The Mirror’s coverage is here
• The Telegraph’s coverage is here
• Coverage in The Express is here
• For a brilliant time lapse video of the Lindo Wing Scene, click here
• PopSugar’s photo gallery is here
• The Royal Collection has a new range of Royal Baby items, including china, ornaments, & other items (thank you Debbie T. on the Facebook page for the tip!)