way -- it now has 5285 legs. a lotta people are celebrating today that the duke and duchess of sussex a point. this is a bbc news a special programme. it has a boy to stop the duchess of sussex has given birth. the duchess of sussex went into labour in the early hours of this morning and buckingham palace said the duke of sussex was by her royal highnesses‘ side. mother and baby are doing well to stop it is the most amazing experience i could ever have possibly imagined. how any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension. but we are both absolutely thrilled.

the baby will be seventh in line to the throne and the queen and prince philip's eighth grandchild. we are here where people are starting to gather in reaction to the news. it's a boy — prince harry has that meghan, the duchess of sussex, has given birth to a healthy baby boy. he was the early hours of this morning whenjust over he was the early hours of this morning when just over £7.

the duchess‘s mother is with the couple. the boy will be seventh in line to the throne and is the queen was my eighth grandchild. —— my great grandchild. i'm very excited to announce that meghan and myself had a baby boy this morning forced to be very healthy baby boy. mother and baby are doing incredibly well. it's been the most amazing experience i could ever have possibly imagined. how any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension. but we're absolutely thrilled. and so grateful to all the love and support out there from everybody out there. it's been amazing. just wanted to share this with everybody. still thinking about names. the baby is a little bit overdue, so we've had a little bit of time to think about it. but yeah, that's the next bit. but for us, i

think we'll be seeing you guys in about two days‘ timers plan, is a family to be able to share it with you guys and so everyone can the baby. i haven't been that many births. this is definitely my first breath. it was amazing. absolutely incredible. as i said, i'm so incredibly proud of my wife. and as every father and parent would have a say, your baby is absolutely amazing. but thing is absolutely to die for. i'm just over the moon. joining us as our correspondence, the man who described himself as a big kid, looking very happy and relaxed today. as any father would be, after the birth of his son. he has really relished and anticipated this moment. i think he has really,

really wa nted this moment. i think he has really, really wanted to start a family. he is good with children, he is good with people, but i think he has an instinctive affinity with children, andi instinctive affinity with children, and i think he has perhaps been a little jealous of his brother who now has three. and i think he has been keen to catch up and start his own family, and with meghan, his wife, equally in the engagement interview talked about how they would be starting a family in due course, that moment has now arrived. and as harry said, a very healthy little boy wearing £7 and three ounces, born just before 530 this morning. we assume it must have been at home at frogmore cottage. there is nothing to indicate she was taken into hospital. if that is the case that means the broth would have altered precisely as she wanted, and she and he have of course wanted to do it rather differently. at home with their own medical attendance of their choice. and announcing the

birth ina their choice. and announcing the birth in a somewhat unorthodox way, not quite in the way that normal royal births are normally announced, but that's them. what is the unorthodoxy, just for those who don't pursue these things? their use of social media is quite unusual. i think him coming out in that way to sort of given use, share the news, a reflection his excitement. unlike with the cambridge babies when we we re with the cambridge babies when we were all stuck outside the wing of st mary's hospital in west london for days actually, as i seem to recall, this has been rather more controlled. and there has been no facility. and let's face it, why should there be? this is their moment, their choice, they wanted to do it this way. it has been a reflection of harry's determination to keep his family and family matters as private as possible. he

doesn't have the same responsibility as william in that year sixth in line to succession, the baby will be seventh. there isn't anything like, not the same pressure, but what there is is a huge degree of public interest and need around the world, it is being followed very closely there, not everybody is interested in this, but at this particular point, with the birth of a new royal baby, the eighth great—grandchild of the queen, and on the public holiday as it is here in britain today, it is clearly going to capture a lot of attention. a baby with a difference, attention. a baby with a difference, a british royal baby and an american citizen, and a biracial baby as well. all sorts of interesting speculation, people around the world will be intrigued to see how this may be's while life unfolds. that's

right, there is great curiosity, has arisen this couple, and in meghan, is an american woman, as she says proudly, multiracial in her background, and now they are baby, pa rt background, and now they are baby, part of the royal family, and yes, there is great curiosity to see both there is great curiosity to see both the baby boy and to see how they now organise their lives and how this young member of the royal family, the newest member of the royal family, actually is brought up. another thing is that the royals are a mirrorfor all of us, and a model for all of us, whether we choose to follow it or not, it is an interesting case study of how to be a family, how to do relationships, how to do parenting, how to do gender relations. it is so interesting that both harry and meghan have talked about being feminists. yes, it has brought a new important dimension to the british royal family and some a different

respect. you've touched on some of them, but also what has been interesting is the way in which this country has received and responded to all these differences. by and large people in this country feel very comfortable that harry and meghan, an american lady, with her background, an entrant to the royal family, no family. the response to that has been interesting and reassuring about the united kingdom. we have heard from the prime minister, theresa may and we have had a tweet from her account saying congratulations to the duke and duchess of sussex on the arrival of their baby boy, wishing you all the best at this happy time. we heard from nicholas witchell saying we must suppose this press took place at frogmore cottage. 0ur

correspondence is at windsor for us. what can you tell us? it is getting busy with lots of people coming up to us, asking whether they have had a boy ora to us, asking whether they have had a boy or a girl. to us, asking whether they have had a boy ora girl. we to us, asking whether they have had a boy or a girl. we now know they have had a baby boy. there was a groupa have had a baby boy. there was a group a few minutes ago on hearing the news erupted in applause. a lot of people are now gathering. there isa of people are now gathering. there is a corner not too far away from me just off the main street. this is where some of the royal fans tend together. somebody rather prematurely put a couple of banners up prematurely put a couple of banners up there, one saying congratulations on the birth of your baby girl, the other, congratulations on the birth of your baby boy. assuming they will now take one of those down.

the duke and duchess married just through those gates and windsor castle in the chapel, in front of 600 guests. windsor once again very much the centre of attention this afternoon. the media have been here, not just from this afternoon. the media have been here, notjust from this country, but this has attracted global interest. there isa has attracted global interest. there is a balcony just has attracted global interest. there is a balconyjust across has attracted global interest. there is a balcony just across from has attracted global interest. there is a balconyjust across from where we are with an american network broadcasting from there. there are media companies from across europe, from france. there has been a lot of speculation as to when the baby would arrive. it got to the point when the media were interviewing themselves because they were simply just waiting for this news. but we now know the duke and duchess are

having, have had a baby boy. seven lb three oz. you heard from prince harry there, they haven't decided on a name yet, but we should hear in the next couple of days. we expect to get the first photograph of that baby. we don't know yet, it has not been confirmed whether meghan had her baby at frogmore cottage. frogmore cottage is where the couple moved into fairly recently. it has been renovated as well. we know meghan wanted ideally to have her baby delivered at home. we still have not had it confirmed officially as to whether she had to have it into hospital or whether she managed to have the wish and have the baby at frogmore cottage. prince harry was speaking in front of the cottage they are absolutely beaming at the news that he is now a father of a baby boy. you referred to the fact

this is of interest notjust to brits. when we look at pictures of the streets in windsor you can see the streets in windsor you can see the union flag, also the stars & stripes. when i was there for the wedding last year i was talking to australians who had camped out all night, many other nationalities. it's a global event, it's a celebrity event. there is a lot to be managed. yes, don't forget this isa be managed. yes, don't forget this is a very young couple. of course the americans are hugely interested, not just the americans are hugely interested, notjust in the royal family. meghan markle, an american, former actress. have that star quality as a couple. going back to the wedding, there we re going back to the wedding, there were a lot of people camped out outside the castle four days in the run—up to the wedding, hoping to get a glimpse of the couple. they did,

when the couple after the ceremony, they came down and went along the long walk in a carriage. what's been quite different this time around, and it is probably to do with the fa ct and it is probably to do with the fact that prince harry and meghan have wa nted fact that prince harry and meghan have wanted to keep things as private as possible. about a month ago the couple put out on their instagram page a statement saying that they wanted to keep the plans of the birth of their baby private, but that they would be celebrating, once they had celebrated or would make the announcement once they had celebrated as a family privately. in the run—up to the birth here in windsor we haven't seen people camping out. but there is definitely a huge amount of interest. lots of people gathering around windsor on hearing the news of the birth of the baby. i guess those streets are going to get busier. let speak to

the royal correspondent for vanity fair. we spoke to you a few minutes ago when wejust fair. we spoke to you a few minutes ago when we just heard news that the duchess of sussex was in labour, and here we are, with a baby. in terms of public messaging it has all gone externally fast. yes, and before i spoke to you i spoke to one of the aides who assured me that there was no royal baby. so i don't know how much this has caught the palace press office by surprise as well. i'm not sure they were even aware that a baby had been born, which i think gives you some indication of just how private this birth has been kept. harry and william so conscious of course of press interest, press intrusion, the paparazzi, and that interest in deciding their own publicity. i think in terms of how

they raise this baby, you gotta understand prince harry grew up rarely out of the spotlight. i was quite surprised he spoke to the cameras today. which was brilliant and unexpected. they made it clear from the outset they didn't want huge attention on the birth, they wa nted huge attention on the birth, they wanted details to remain private. and i think probably the way they are going to raise the baby boy is as much out of the spotlight as possible. prince harry has said in the past he wants this child to have an ordinary life. whether you are royal and can have an ordinary life, i'm not so sure. but it signalled to me that he wanted to give this child is ordinary childhood as possible. katie, you will have watched the prince come out and announced the birth of his baby son. and a more delighted father it is hard to imagine. he was absolutely beaming,

thrilled, delighted, had that look of absolute amazement on his face. and said how any woman gives birth is beyond his comprehension. they are obviously still in those first flashes of just are obviously still in those first flashes ofjust disbelief when you actually cannot believe that you have become a parent. katie, with a leave you there. perhaps we will speak to you in a few minutes. joined now by our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. it's a royal baby, with royal tradition, but this is as modern a couple as can be within those royal confines. yes, and as katie was saying, they are determined to do it their way. the sequence of events today has been rather curious. it was at two o'clock this afternoon that the palace announced that she had gone into labour. but of course actually the baby had been born eight hours previously. the baby was

born at 0525 this morning. the palace said she had gone into labour in the early hours. that is another measure of how determined they are to just keep everybody at bay. to keep everybody pushed away. that is i think keep everybody pushed away. that is ithinka keep everybody pushed away. that is i think a reflection particularly of harry, his suspicion, verging at times on still slightly hostile attitude to elements of the traditional media. he has been determined not to do it in a way that what we used to call fleet street would wish, to be at the beck and call of news editors and deadlines in that sort of thing. they could have announced first thing this morning that she had gone into labour in the early hours and that the baby had been born. but they've left it, according to their timetable, and maybe it is that they we re timetable, and maybe it is that they were not telling the people at buckingham palace precisely what we re buckingham palace precisely what were happening, they were keeping it to themselves. william and kate did add a little bit with the birth of

george five years ago. they wanted to inform family and withhold it from the wider world, all of those hundreds of us gathered outside that hospital in west london, but only for a couple of hours. in the case of harry and meghan they have kept the news of the birth for... sort of nine hours or so. do you think that isa nine hours or so. do you think that is a measure of their determination to have a private life? as well as to have a private life? as well as to deal with their public duties?” think it is absolutely a reflection of that. they are putting down a determined marker right from the beginning that they will wish to ensure that their family, their son, their own lives, are clearly demarcated between their responsibility to carry out public functions and public duties as members of the royal family, and the private life that they are determined to have. this little boy,

we don't have a name yet, will not be anything like as important a member of the royal family as george and charlotte. this little boy is not automatically entitled to the style his royal highness, you will not automatically be designated as a prince, it will be up to the queen to change the rules. i won't go into too much detail. but that's the way it is. and an exception had to be made so that william's son would be prince george, his royal highness. it all comes together in the minds of harry and meghan that they are not as centrally important to the constitutional future of this country as william and kate. that gives them greater latitude, they will take advantage of that and expect people to be understanding and to give them greater space. and we can be sure they will insist upon it. i wonder what they will learn

and take from the experience of william and kate? i'm always struck by the fact that it is the duchess who takes the family photo, shalit was my birthday, for example. yes, i don't know whether meghan is an enthusiast with the camera. there will be no shortage of photographers dying to come in. like any doting pa rents, dying to come in. like any doting parents, i'm sure they will be taking snapshots madly at the moment, and perhaps they will be releasing some of those. i think we can expect some official, as it were, photocall, as he said, in the next couple of days. but it will be on their terms. questions now for the queen. we'll baby sussex be a prince and get a gun salute? there are a whole list of things the queen has to consider about her great grandson.”

of things the queen has to consider about her great grandson. i think they have been in consultation with they have been in consultation with the family about that. nick was talking about that. what happens is a letters patent has to be issued allowing the child to be a prince or princess. which is a matter for harry and meghan, technically they could be a lord and lady are not even have a title. going forward, we know that he will probably want to try to slim down the monarchy. that will probably be advisable and preferable in terms of money spent and the way that people view the monarchical system. i wouldn't be surprised if harry and meghan didn't do something completely different, from the name of the child, to the way the child will be styled. if it isa name way the child will be styled. if it is a name don't want the child to be a prince, i don't think that will be a prince, i don't think that will be a major issue going forward for this

little boy. he's going to be a very privileged and wealthy individual and will probably be able to find his own path. we have seen pictures of meghan's mother, who we understand was that frogmore cottage. she is possibly going to play an important part in the life of her grandson. i'm sure she will. there is a lot of talk, a lot of speculation based upon nothing. about exacta what is happening with doria. she has her life in the west coast of america, that is where she lives. she may well want to return there to continue that light. it looks like they didn't inform thomas markle, the other grandfather, due to all the problems that have been going on there, which is a bit of a shame, they are not listed in that statement. at the moment we will have to wait and see. i'm sure they will get help. there has been talk

ofa will get help. there has been talk of a male nanny, will get help. there has been talk ofa male nanny, an will get help. there has been talk of a male nanny, an american nanny. there has been a lot of pretty weak speculation about this over the last few months online. we just have to wait and see. i can't personally see any reason why doria, her mum, will have to move to the uk, and it would be strange to ask her to do that. let's move back from the inane speculation to the things we know for certain. the things we saw. we saw prince harry come out and talk to the media. by royal standards it was an unusual way to announce a royal birth. yes. sorry, are you still with me? yes, we are, go ahead. actually, in the past royal

dads have always come out and spoken quite happily to the media in the aftermath of the birth. prince charles did pretty much exactly the same thing. it's just charles did pretty much exactly the same thing. it'sjust that people have short memories. in that lovely excited way of a new dad, it was a bit of a kerfuffle the way it was announced from the palace, the palace at two o'clock announcing she had gone into labour when she had already given birth. it was daft to put that out. should have just put out the later statement saying that the baby had born. it was a bit of a mess in that respect. but the way he has handled it, very calm, very happy. you can only be happy for any couple that has given birth and had a new baby. he seems excited and full of admiration for his wife and

mother and son, like full of admiration for his wife and motherand son, like most full of admiration for his wife and mother and son, like most dads are. robert, thanks. as we absorb this news of the royal birth matt harry, the duke of sussex has been speaking about experience in the last hour. i'm very excited to announce that meghan and myself had a baby boy this morning. a very healthy baby boy. mother and baby are doing incredibly well. it's been the most amazing experience i could ever have possibly imagined. how any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension. but we're both absolutely thrilled. and so grateful to all the love and support out there from everybody out there. it's been amazing. just wanted to share this with everybody. still thinking about names. the baby is a little bit overdue, so we've had a little bit of time to think about it. but yeah, that's the next bit.

but for us, i think we'll be seeing you guys in about two days' time as planned, as a family to be able to share it with you guys and so everyone can the baby. i haven't been at many births. this is definitely my first birth. it was amazing. absolutely incredible. as i said, i'm so incredibly proud of my wife. and as every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing. but this little thing is absolutely to die for. i'm just over the moon. not farfrom where not far from where he was standing is our own correspondent and later in winter. the news is spreading. is our own correspondent and later in winter. the news is spreadingm is. i'm here in windsor. crowds gathered around the media position

here. not too far away from frogmore cottage, the newly renovated home of the duke and duchess of sussex, where, it seems, baby sussex, this new baby boy has been born. 0bviously new baby boy has been born. obviously this cottage playing a significant role, a special place in this couple's life so far together. you may remember that is where those beautiful engagement photographs we re beautiful engagement photographs were taken. and they are wedding reception was at the cottage as well. it was from the cottage today that prince harry emerged to share this news with the world, this eagerly awaited news. there had been lots of speculation. it may be the baby had already been born and they we re baby had already been born and they were keeping it private for a few days. then the royal family, buckingham palace, announced they would give an indication of when the duchess of sussex had gone into labour. what was surprising was how quickly that announcement was followed by the news that the baby

had actually arrived, the first tweet from buckingham palace saying she had gone into labour in the early hours of this morning, and then very quickly afterwards, the news from prince harry himself that his wife, meghan, had given birth to a little boy. and yes, he was absolutely beaming, as any new father would be. absolutely overjoyed , father would be. absolutely overjoyed, saying how proud he was of his wife, that he was absolutely in or of what she had gone through. in giving birth. but that both she and the baby were doing well. there will be well—wishers flooding in. not only from the uk, and all the traditional sources, but this is a couple had the beckham is, 0prah winfrey, the clunes, that star—studded wedding. this baby will get a lot of attention. absolutely,

it was interesting and surprising perhaps that we had from prince harry so quickly, because the couple had said in the weeks leading up to the birth that they were hugely grateful for all the good wishes from the public, but that once the baby arrived they would be celebrating privately as a family for a couple of days before the were any huge announcements, or perhaps seeing the baby. it was a little surprising that prince harry himself came out. and that is a measure perhaps of how thrilled, how happy he is, that he couldn't contain himself. he wanted to come out and deliver that news to the waiting media that his son had arrived safely. as you say, there will be massive interest. this is a couple who straddle the worlds of royalty and celebrity, as we saw from the guest list at their wedding. huge interests, of course, in the usa as well as here. people have been

gathering in windsor in the last few daysin gathering in windsor in the last few days in anticipation of the news of the birth. i'll be able to talk to some of them very soon, watching on, as we report the news, who may be have come to windsor for the day hoping that they might be around when the news of the royal birth emerged. it will be very interesting, of course, lots of speculation about what this baby might be called. will there be a reference to meghan's american roots ? reference to meghan's american roots? her african—american roots? as we saw during the wedding service. will that be reflected somewhere perhaps in the baby's name as well? and anita, a lot of affection for this couple here in the uk and around the world. it is partly how muchjoy they get around the world. it is partly how much joy they get from their relationship, but is it also partly due to the fact they have both had difficulties in their lives in various ways and, indeed difficulties in their families? various ways and, indeed difficulties in theirfamilies? they