Royal births on 22 July

Baby Cambridge is on the way.  After months of speculation, Kate and William have reached the really scary part of bringing a baby into the world.  Everyone else is waiting for the happy news while they, well she, sweats her way through the long hours it takes to deliver a child.

The hospital where the royal baby will be born - Kate is now in labour in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London

 

 

A first baby can take a long time and as Kate is overdue then that can mean things are going to go very slowly indeed.  But let's hope for Kate there's not too much of a wait and that the little prince or princess of Cambridge arrives today.

 

Monday's child is fair of face - there's a good chance of that with a pretty mum and a handsome dad.  And if Kate and William become parents today their little boy or girl will share a birthday with some other royals in history.

 

 

The royal family, seen here at Trooping the Colour in 2012, is about to grow by another member who will one day take centre stage on the balcony as head of the royal household

 

First of all we have Joan Platagenet later Queen of the Scots.  She was born on July 22nd 1210, the eldest daughter of King John and his queen consort, Isabella of Angouleme.  She already had two big brothers so was never going to be Queen of England but by marrying Alexander II of Scotland she did wear a crown.  She died in Essex in 1238 and pretty soon her brother's regime was waging war on her former husband.

 

 

Joan of England, later Queen of the Scots was a royal baby born on July22nd - baby Cambridge could arrive on the same day with just the 703 year gap

 

 

Another royal birth on this day in 1478 had an impact on the English monarchy and on the lives of six queen consorts.  On July 22nd that year Mary of Burgundy gave birth to a son called Felipe who became the king of Castile.  A young Henry VIII would meet Felipe I, as he was then, when the Spanish king visited the English court and saw in him a role model for a modern ruler.  Henry's determination to rule in the way he saw fit, regardless of what had gone before, was a large factor in his decision to take six wives.  And they became brothers-in-law of a sort.  Felipe married Juana, the sister of Catherine of Aragon, and queen Castile and Leon in her own right.  However, by the time Henry married his first Kate, Felipe was dead and Juana was suffering from serious mental health problems.

 

 

Philip of Castile was a role model for Henry VIII who met him when he visited the English court with his wife, Juana, the sister of Catherine of Aragon

 

 

And there is a very tenuous link to the former royal house of Cambridge.  On July 22nd 1848 the former Princess Augusta of Cambridge gave birth to a son and called him Adolphus.  This princess of Cambridge was the sister of the mother of Queen Consort Mary of Teck.  Adolphus went on to be Duke of Mecklenberg-Strelitz while his little cousin, born 19 years later, wore the consort's crown of England.

 

 

Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, and son of Princess Augusta of Cambridge was born on July 22nd 1848.  His cousin became Queen Consort Mary of England and Kate and William's baby will be her great, great, great grandchild.

 

In more modern times, July 22nd 2002 was a happy day for the Danish royal family with the arrival of the second grandchild of Queen Margrethe II.  Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra, welcomed Felix Henrik Veldemar Christian into the world in hospital in Copenhagen.  Felix, whose name means happy, is now eighth in line to the throne of Denmark.

 

 

 

Prince Felix of Denmark arrived on July 22nd 2002 - the last royal birth on that day...until now?

(photo Bill Ebbesen)