Royal baby update: The wait is over, it's a boy

The couple's son was delivered today at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington with his proud father, Prince William, looking on.

The long-awaited baby will be given the title His Royal Highness and be known as Prince of Cambridge, after the Queen moved earlier this year to change almost a century of royal tradition. She issued a formal proclamation in January to end a convention brought in by George V which meant that a royal title was restricted to the children of the sovereign and the children of the sovereign's sons.

Pictures: Different times, same culture

Some 48 years, two months, 16 days and – if you look very closely at the clocks – just a few minutes separate these images of the two solemn events. But, apart from a few radical additions to the City of London’s skyline, it is almost as if time has stood still. You cannot help but be struck by the remarkable similarities between the two scenes. Even the Queen struck an almost identical pose to the one she adopted yesterday, with her handbag hooked over her left arm and her hands clutched in front of her, as she contemplated the loss of Sir Winston, the first of the 12 Prime Ministers to have served during her reign.

In 1965, Winston Churchill was buried and now Margaret Thatcher. Nothing seems to have changed.

Larger than life: Queen gets £5m pay rise from taxpayer

The Queen has received a £5m boost in the funds she receives from the taxpayer to carry out her official duties.

The sovereign grant, which covers the running costs of the Queen's household, has been set at £36.1m for the 2013-14 financial year.The figure has increased from the £31m allocated during the previous 12 months which included £1m to cover the extra costs of the diamond jubilee.

Royal accounts released last year showed the cost to the taxpayer of supporting the monarchy rose marginally during 2011-12. The Queen's official expenditure increased from £32.1m in 2010-11 to £32.3m in 2011-12.

Around £10m is spent on the salaries of the Queen's staff, from footmen to chefs in the royal kitchen – but wages have been frozen for a number of years. The figure for official expenditure does not include the cost of providing security and police protection for members of the monarchy.

Talking about about being large!