Queen Elizabeth II’s Birth Stories Reveal She Kept — And Broke — Royal Tradition

Sep 12, 2022 by apost team

It seems the public just can’t get enough of royal babies, as proven by the media circus that erupts with each new birth in the royal family. Such was the case for the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton’s three children, as well as the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle’s two tots. But long before the arrival of their bundles of joy, the late Queen Elizabeth II welcomed four children, all by home birth as was tradition. That was until Princess Diana broke the mold by delivering her first son William, Prince of Wales at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, blazing the trail for Kate and Meghan to follow suit. 

In any case, Elizabeth was quite the trailblazer herself, forgoing the tradition of having a senior politician present for every royal birth. Historian Kate Williams told The British Heritage “until then, it was going to be witnessed, not in the room but outside, by Prime Ministers, by Home Secretaries.”

However, Elizabeth’s father, King George VI would not have it. “Royal births were always witnessed by a senior politician, and the Queen’s father said no. So he put an end to that protocol. He said ‘even though she’s giving birth to the heir of the throne, we are not going to have this witness,’” Williams added.

Elizabeth also broke with tradition by having her husband, the late Prince Philip, present for the birth of their youngest son. Ingrid Seward wrote in the book “My Husband and I: The Inside Story Of 70 Years Of Royal Marriage” that Elizabeth had read about fathers being involved in childbirth in women’s magazines and asked for him to be by her side. Read on to find out more about the births of Queen Elizabeth’s children and how they fared.

Almost a year to the day after Elizabeth and Philip’s wedding on Nov. 20, 1947, the future queen gave birth to her eldest son King Charles III on Nov. 14, 1948. Charles was born in the Buhl Room of Buckingham Palace via cesarean section when Elizabeth was still a princess. Prince Philip was not present as his wife was in labor for 30 hours, and to quell his nerves, he decided to play a game of squash with his private secretary. The Daily Mail reported that when the prince finally received news of a successful delivery, he bounded to the room, which had been converted into an operating theater, still in his sporting flannels and open-neck shirt before declaring the child looked like a plum pudding.

In keeping with tradition, the bells of Westminster Abbey were rung and King George VI's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute.

By the time their second child was due, the royal couple had moved to Clarence House. There on Aug. 15, 1950, Princess Anne was born weighing 6 lbs. According to the BBC, news of the birth was "posted on the gates of Clarence House, on a board outside the Home Office in Whitehall and at Mansion House in the city." It went on to report that “The Duke of Edinburgh toasted the new princess’ health in champagne with his staff,” before telephoning Balmoral Castle to inform the king. It also added: “The Royal Salute was fired at 1530 in Hyde Park by the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery. According to tradition, the case of the first round fired will be engraved and sent to Princess Elizabeth,” as the world erupted with cheer at the news.

Elizabeth’s next two children would be born after she ascended the throne and became queen.

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The birth of Elizabeth’s third child would come after a long pause of 10 years. Prince Andrew came into the world on Feb. 19, 1960, and became the first child to be delivered by a reigning monarch for more than 100 years. Also born in Buckingham Palace, Elizabeth, then 33, underwent a “twilight sleep” with Andrew, which saw the monarch put under anesthetic during labor and delivery and awake with no memory of the birth. A popular procedure in the 20th century, it fell out of favor and is no longer performed.

Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born in Buckingham Palace on March 10, 1964, weighing 5 lbs and 7 oz. Elizabeth was heralded for her decision to break with tradition and have her husband play a more active role in childbirth. Royal biographer Seward wrote in her book:

“The Queen, by then aged 37, had asked him to be there; she’d been keenly reading women’s magazines that stressed the importance of involving fathers in childbirth and had become fascinated by the idea. Thus Philip became the first royal father in modern history to witness the arrival of one of his children. ... Compassion comes from the Queen. And the duty and discipline comes from him, Philip.”

According to a report from The New York Times at the time: “The baby was placed in the cream-colored iron cradle originally made for his mother. Later he will be transferred to the Moses Basket, which was the property of the late Queen Mary, the present Queen’s grandmother.”

The publication also reported that surgeon-gynecologist Sir John Peel led the team of doctors, midwives and nurses for the delivery and had himself been present at the deliveries of all the queen's four children. 

After giving birth to four children in her life, Elizabeth later became a grandmother to eight, after each of her four kids had two children of their own. Later still, she became a proud great-grandmother to 12 little ones. Despite being the monarch for a history-making 70 years, Elizabeth was at heart, a doting mother and grandmother to her large family. Nevertheless, she took her official role very seriously and nothing seemed to stop her from carrying out many of her royal duties, no matter what circumstances were thrown her way.

After encountering a difficult year in 2021 following her husband's death, Elizabeth continued to go above and beyond to carry out all of her responsibilities and see over all of the members of the royal family. 2022 then marked a big year for the late queen, who in February celebrated 70 years as Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 Commonwealth realms. This was not only a milestone for her but for the entire world, as she was the first British ruling monarch to reach the seven-decade mark.

In fact, she had already made history and was the second longest-serving monarch ever. She was only bested by one other ruler, Louis XIV of France after she overtook two rulers — Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and Johann II of Liechtenstein — in 2022.

After she became queen, Elizabeth defied many odds during her 70-year reign, which sadly came to an end when she passed away on Sept. 8, 2022. She passed away while at her home in Balmoral after Buckingham Palace had earlier announced that she was under medical attention. 

Was there anything you were surprised to learn about any of the late Queen Elizabeth’s four deliveries? What do you think about the ways she broke from tradition and the ways she kept to them? Let us know and be sure to pass this on to family and friends.