LONDON // Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, has given birth to a baby girl, royal officials said on Saturday. Kensington Palace said in a brief statement that Prince William’s wife “was safely delivered of a daughter” at 8:34 am London time (0734 GMT), less than three hours after she was admitted to central London’s St. Mary’s Hospital.
The announcement was greeted by cheers outside the hospital, where die-hard royal fans dressed in patriotic Union Jack gear have been camping out on the sidewalk, eagerly awaiting news. A town crier in elaborate costume loudly declared the news at the hospital’s door, clanging his bell to welcome the new royal.
The baby weighs 8 pounds 3 ounces (3.7 kg). The palace added that Kate, 33, and her child are both doing well, and that Prince William was present for the birth.
The princess is fourth in line to the throne and the fifth great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II. The statement said that senior royals have been informed, and “are delighted with the news.” Kate, who wed William in April 2011, gave birth to Prince George at the same hospital in July 2013. The name of the newborn wasn’t expected to be announced immediately. When George was born, officials waited two days before announcing his name.
Betting had for weeks ran heavily in favor of the child being a girl, despite any apparent evidence to back that up. All the top bets for the baby’s name are for girls. Alice and Charlotte are the clear favorites, followed by Elizabeth, Victoria and Diana – all names with strong connections to royal tradition.
Prince Charles has signaled – twice – that he’s hoping for a granddaughter, which led some to speculate that Charles had some inside information. The monarchy has not welcomed a princess born this high up the line of succession since Princess Anne, the queen’s second child, was born in 1950.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, were fifth and sixth in line at the time of their birth.
At 21 months, George is currently third in line to the throne, after his grandfather Prince Charles and William. The newborn becomes the fourth in line, bumping Uncle Harry to fifth place.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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Analysis
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
