A closer look at the tradition of royal children meeting their baby siblings in hospital

Prince George and Princess Charlotte are expected to visit the Lindo Wing later on Monday


Ainhoa Barcelona
Content Managing Editor
April 23, 2018

Prince George and Princess Charlotte are expected to follow in tradition and pay a visit to the hospital to meet their new baby brother or sister after the birth. Royal children usually make the visit a few hours after the arrival; when Charlotte was born in May 2015, her big brother George was picked up from home at Kensington Palace and brought to the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital.

George, who was 21 months old at the time, looked slightly nervous as he arrived at the private hospital. The youngster, who matched his dad in blue, gave the crowds a small wave as he was carried up the hospital steps. William planted a reassuring kiss on his son's head and was heard saying "Good boy" as they entered the hospital.

© Photo: Getty Images

Prince George visited Charlotte when she was a newborn in hospital

In a similar scene from more than 30 years earlier, William also visited the Lindo Wing to meet his baby brother Prince Harry. William was two at the time and held hands with his father Prince Charles as he entered the hospital to visit his mum Princess Diana, and to meet one-day old Prince Harry in September 1984.

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© Photo: Getty Images

Prince William, pictured with nanny Barbara, visited his brother Harry in hospital in 1984

The newspapers at the time reported how William was "very, very excited about seeing his new brother". Dressed in red shorts and a white shirt, William is said to have run down the corridor into Diana's arms as she called his name. He held baby Harry's hand as he lay in his cot and spent about 20 minutes at the hospital before he was taken home by his nanny, Barbara Barnes.

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When Charlotte was born, George also stayed at the hospital for a few minutes and was likely taken home by his nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, and a personal protection officer. George was not pictured leaving, meaning he most likely exited the hospital via a back door, leaving Prince William and Kate to make their grand departure alone with newborn Charlotte. As the children are a bit older – George is four and Charlotte is turning three next week – fans are hoping the Cambridges will leave the hospital together, their first appearance as a family-of-five.

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