London gun salutes celebrate royal baby

  • 11 years ago
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STORY: Special occasions in Britain's royal family are often marked with gun salutes - and on Tuesday guns sounded across London to celebrate the birth of a royal baby.

Members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery fired a sixty-two gun salute at the Tower of London to mark the birth of the future king. A 41-gun salute was also fired at London's Green Park.

Prince William's wife Kate gave birth to a boy on Monday, the couple's first child and the third in line to the British throne.

The official website of the British Monarchy website says gun salutes are customarily fired as a sign of respect or welcome. The number of rounds fired in a Royal salute depends on the place and occasion.

The basic Royal salute is 21 rounds. At the Tower of London 62 rounds are fired on Royal anniversaries (the basic 21 rounds, plus an additional 20 rounds because the Tower is a Royal Palace and Fortress, plus another 21 rounds for "the Ci