The Duchess of Cambridge is in the early stages of labour and has been admitted to hospital as she prepares to give birth to the future king or queen.
Prince William is with his wife at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary�s Hospital in Paddington, west London, where he himself was born in 1982.
Palace officials chose to make the announcement that Kate has gone into labour public in an attempt to balance her �dignity� with the fact that social media makes it almost impossible to keep her baby's imminent arrival a secret.
'The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St. Mary�s Hospital, Paddington, London in the early stages of labour,' a royal spokesman said.
'The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing with The Duke of Cambridge'.
The couple�s child will become third in the line of succession, displacing Prince Harry to fourth and the Duke of York to fifth.
As a result of recent, long-anticipated changes in the law, the baby will also be made an HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) and given the title Prince or Princess of Cambridge.
If she is a girl she will, one day, become Queen, just as a boy will become King.
He or she is also destined to become a future head of the armed forces, supreme governor of the Church of England and head of the Commonwealth, which covers 54 nations across the world, and subsequently head of state of 16 countries.
The birth is also a momentous event for the present Queen personally.
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