10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About the Royal Baby

Hint: he or she already has a custom-made lullaby.

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Between the tabloid covers, TV segments, and general influx of media coverage (including on our own site!), you’ve probably read a lot about the Royal Baby, as Kate Middleton’s July 13 due date looms. Here are 10 fun facts you may have missed.

  1. The royal birth notice will be posted just inside on the gates of Buckingham palace. But, for the first time, the birth announcement will also be released via social media.
  2. Bookies have placed odds on the royal baby name: they like Alexandra.
  3. Bookies are also offering odds of 4-1 that the baby inherits the recessive red hair gene, à la Harry.
  4. The baby will be heir to the throne (third in line after Prince Charles and Prince William), regardless of whether it is a girl or a boy. In April of this year, the UK changed its rights of succession, ending centuries of male primogeniture.
  5. The last time a still-serving monarch was alive at the birth of his or her great-grandchild in direct succession was 120 years ago when Queen Victoria’s great-grandson, the future Edward VIII, was born. He abdicated the throne.
  6. Prince William plans to be in the delivery room when his wife gives birth.
  7. The Cambridges aim to move with their bouncing baby to a newly refurbished apartment in Kensington Palace in the fall. They haven’t announced where they will take the baby after leaving the hospital.
  8. Some economists expect the birth to prompt a $380 million boost to the U.K. economy.
  9. The composer Paule Mealor who wrote a piece of music for the royal wedding has now written a lullaby for the Cambridges’ baby called “Sleep On.”
  10. William will take two weeks of paternity leave. We do not yet know how much time Kate will take off from her royal duties.

(MORE: Kate Middleton’s Royally Chic Maternity Style)

(MORE: What Life Will Be Like for Baby Cambridge)