Kate Middleton In Labor, 3rd Royal Baby Coming On St. George's Day

The United Kingdom is eagerly awaiting for the arrival of royal baby number three as the Duchess of Cambridge went into the early stages of labor Monday. The news was confirmed by Kensington Palace on its official Twitter account.

The Duchess was driven from her official residence at Kensington Palace to the private wing of St. Mary's Hospital in central London at around 6 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. EST) on Monday, which also happens to be St. George's Day.

The news of Middleton going into labor on St. George’s Day came just a few days after royal correspondent Emily Andrews said that the Duchess could give birth on April 23. During one of her appearances on “Lorraine,” a lifestyle and entertainment show, Andrews reportedly said Middleton would give birth to her third child on the feast day of England's patron saint.

“The date is first calculated by using the date of [a woman’s] last period and adding 280 days or 40 weeks… She was late with George and Charlotte but I would imagine the baby will be arriving in the last week of April,” she said.

Apart from Andrews, Jessica Bridges of Ladbrokes was also apparently convinced that Middleton would give birth on St. George’s Day.

“It would be such a wonderful coincidence if Kate was to give birth on St. George’s Day, and patriotic punters forced us to cut the odds on the newest member of the Royal family entering the world on April 23rd,” she said.

The excitement and anticipation surrounding the arrival of the royal baby has been tremendous.

Reports state that a royal insider also weighed in on the atmosphere within the royal family. “Kate is now officially on maternity leave until the autumn and looking forward to welcoming the new baby. The whole family is excited, including the children, who are very much aware that they are about to welcome a new brother or sister,” they said.

The Duchess, who announced her pregnancy in September 2017 will give birth to her third child soon, who will be fifth in line to the British throne after its grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and its two older siblings.

Both Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born in the Lindo Wing in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Their father William was also born at the same facility.

At the start of her pregnancy, Kensington Palace had confirmed that the Duchess was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, severe morning sickness. At the time, a source close to Middleton said that though the royal had a difficult time in her first trimester, she eventually began to feel better.

“She has such a rotten time during these early months but she’s out of the woods now and doing well. I think when you see it referred to as extreme morning sickness you don’t quite understand how debilitating it can be, but it truly is a grueling condition and can make it impossible to do anything else. All you can do is just rest. It requires constant medical care and can be a worrying time for any mum-to-be,” the source said.