With royal baby fever well and truly in the air, the world is already anticipating the first photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's new arrival. And if they go by tradition and pose outside of the hospital with their newborn, there will be a fair procedure in place to ensure that all the royal photographers get the chance to take a photo – something which was instigated after the birth of Prince George. Shutterstock's royal photographer Tim Rooke spoke to HELLO! about what it's like taking pictures of such a special moment, and how George's arrival changed the way pictures are taken.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after Prince George's arrival Credit: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
To make things fair and less chaotic, all royal photographers are given a number which assigns the order they are allowed to take a photo of the baby. Tim explained: "When Prince George was born, it was quite chaotic and I think one of the TV stations noticed that they had put up parking restrictions outside of the Lindo Wing which was about three weeks before the baby was due. And as soon as that happened everyone went to camp outside the hospital, which of course a lot of disruption." He added: "So they decided before Princess Charlotte was born - we went down to the palace and worked out how many positions they needed and so everyone was given a number drawn at random and that was your position. So then as soon as the Duchess went into hospital, you were told to turn up the hospital the day before and that was your number and that's where you stood, so there was no arguing and it was quite civilised."
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There have been reports to suggest that the Duchess will opt for a home birth in Windsor rather than going to hospital, and that the first photo of the baby will appear on the Sussex's newly-opened Instagram account instead. Tim himself is still waiting to hear what will happen. He said: "That's why it looks like there is nothing going to happen with Prince Harry and Meghan, now they moved out to Windsor, but there has not been any parking restrictions at St Mary's hospital and we are still waiting to find out what's going to happen. But at the moment everyone seems to think it will be private and we won't be seeing the baby at all."
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Tim added: "I think they [Harry and Meghan] are very much their own people. I think the difference between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Sussexes is that obviously William is going to be King and Kate is going to be Queen. So there are different expectations on the future King and Queen. It would be great to photograph the baby once they are born but they may just want to keep the whole thing private, or they may do a photocall similar like they did with their engagement in a more controlled environment."
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