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The moving story behind the royal baby's blanket

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Just hours after his birth, the new baby Prince made his first appearance to the outside world yesterday evening. Parents Kate Middleton and Prince William stepped out of the Lindo Wing hospital doors cradling their new son, with crowds of press and onlookers there to see them.

While Kate looked her usual glamorous self (despite having given birth just hours before) in a red Jenny Packham dress, we could only see a teeny tiny glimpse of the newborn, who was wrapped in a cream blanket. But it turns out that blanket, made by Nottingham-based knitwear company G.H. Hurt & Sons, holds real sentimental value.

The choice to wrap the newborn royal in a knitted shawl from this company is in keeping with a 70-year-old tradition started by the Queen following Prince Charles' birth. Back in 1948, when the Queen and her husband Prince Philip presented Prince Charles to the world, they wrapped him in a G.H. Hurt & Sons blanket.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Years later, when Princess Diana went on to have Prince William and Prince Harry, she followed in the footsteps of her mother-in-law and also used a G.H. Hurt & Sons shawl to wrap her newborns in.

Here she is with Prince Charles just after Prince William's birth in 1982:

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

And here's a newborn Prince Harry wrapped in a similar blanket just after his birth in 1984:

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

For Prince William, having lost his mother as a teenager, he was probably eager to honour her in any way he could when it came to the birth of his own children. He and wife Kate Middleton chose to follow tradition and use a blanket of the same brand for both Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

And now, with the birth of their third child, they have done the same:

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

The particular blanket the currently nameless Prince was wrapped in is the Nottingham Lace Knitted Baby Shawl, and the company behind its creation is pleased as punch that William and Kate chose to wrap their newborn son in it for his world debut.

Gillian Taylor, Director of G. H. Hurt & Son, offered her "very warmest and sincere congratulations to TRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the safe arrival of their baby boy," before telling Cosmopolitan UK that her team was "delighted to see the Royal couple emerge from St Mary’s Hospital with their newborn son wrapped in our traditional hand finished shawl."

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

"We feel so honoured that William and Kate have again chosen our beautiful merino wool lacy knitted baby shawls and in doing so have continued a tradition for the next generation of Royals," Gillian added.

What a sweet touch.

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