Royal baby: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge name son George Alexander Louis

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis, Kensington Palace has said.

The third in line to the throne, who was born on Monday at 16:24 BST, will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

The Queen was told of Prince George's name when she met him for the first time on Wednesday.

The family are at the Middleton home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, after spending a night at Kensington Palace.

George was the bookmakers' favourite for the first name of the prince.

The duke and duchess had been expected to pick a traditional royal name for their son, who was born at St Mary's Hospital in London, weighing 8lbs 6oz.

Royal infants usually have historical names which are passed down through the generations.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis, Kensington Palace have confirmed.

The announcement puts an end to weeks of speculation as the most recent bookies' favourite for the Prince of Cambridge's first name came through.

Britain seemed convinced that the Duchess would choose the traditional moniker George for her son, with odds sitting at 9/4 this morning, according to Ladbrokes. James was also a popular choice at 4/1. Paddy Power had noticed a surge towards the name Spencer, with odds stacked at 8/1 earlier.

The country had to wait over 24 hours to hear the name chosen for the heir to the throne, but this was not long compared with previous royal births. Royal supporters waited for a week to hear the name chosen for a newborn Prince William, although Prince Harry's name was unveiled upon his exit from the hospital in 1984.

Earlier the couple were seen leaving Kensington Palace by car with their new-born son, as they reportedly headed to Kate's family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.

Prince Harry had visited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to see his new nephew, Kensington Palace announced. The Queen also arrived at Kensington Palace earlier in the morning to visit Kate and William and her great-grandson for the first time.

The Queen, who arrived in the rear of a dark green Bentley, has said that she is “thrilled” by the delivery of the future king, who is third in line to the throne.

The Queen left Kensington Palace after spending just over half an hour visiting..

Kate and William were welcomed back to the palace by her sister Pippa and other members of the Middleton family, who held a small family celebration to honour the latest addition to their family. Raising the royal baby will continue to be strictly a family affair it seems, as despite both William and Kate having busy schedules due to their official duties, an aide confirmed that the couple will not look to hire a nanny, according to The Telegraph.

Earlier yesterday afternoon, the moment the media had been waiting for finally arrived when William and Kate emerged from the private wing of the Lindo hospital, allowing the world to finally catch a glimpse of the third-in-line to the throne.

The Duke and Duchess posed on the steps of St Mary’s Hospital and presented the world with the future king, answering questions from the media scrum that has camped outside the hospital for weeks anticipating the birth of the royal baby, alongside thousands of well-wishers.

Twitter immediately exploded into a frenzy as soon as the royal baby entered into public view and 18,000 tweets a minute were posted.

William and Kate, looking relaxed and happy, brought their baby prince out into the public gaze and joked about their newborn being a “big boy”. The Duchess, dressed in a light blue Jenny Packham dress cradled her son first and the couple appeared relaxed, smiling broadly as the world's media captured the moment.

The baby prince was the star attraction and appeared oblivious to the flashguns of the world's press photographers going off, but did seem to be partially awake during his first public appearance. His hand poked over the white shawl he was wrapped in, prompting many to take to Twitter and comment on the little prince’s royal wave using #royalwave.

William later held the future king and walked towards the press with his wife to answer a few questions. He began by joking: “He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure. He's a big boy, he's quite heavy." The Duke even promised to remind his child of his 'lateness', as his wife was believed to be at least a week past her due date when she went into labour. “I'll remind him of his tardiness when he's a bit older because I know how long you've all been sat out here", he said. “Hopefully the hospital and you guys can all go back to normal now and we're going to look after him... ”

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