Other traditions regarding royal pregnancies have changed a lot over the years. Once upon a time, it was believed that there were things you could do after conception to ensure that your incoming kid was a male heir, and when the baby was born, there would be plenty of onlookers just to make sure no one pulled the old baby switcheroo. Let's take a look at some secrets about royal pregnancies and babies that you might not know.
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00:00There's nothing that brings excitement quite like the arrival of a new wee royal.
00:04As we wait not-so-patiently for the next, let's look back at the fascinating traditions
00:08that have surrounded royal pregnancies and babies.
00:12Boy or bust?
00:14Historically, female heirs could only take the throne as an absolute last resort, so
00:18royals used to go all out in their efforts to ensure that a pregnant queen produced a
00:22boy.
00:23Tracey Borman, joint chief curator for Historic Royal Palaces, told the Daily Telegraph that
00:27a series of rules put in place in the 15th century laid out some of those extreme measures.
00:32Not only could royal mothers-to-be only be served by women, no natural light was allowed.
00:37That meant all the windows were shuttered and even keyholes were blocked up.
00:40Fires also had to be lit year-round, because apparently baby boys like it warm.
00:45These rules persisted for centuries because people believed that a baby's gender wasn't
00:48set until birth, and that external factors could influence whether the queen produced
00:52a boy or a girl.
00:54A very crowded bedchamber
00:56How's this for awkward?
00:58In order to prevent allegations of foul play, like replacing a stillborn child with a live
01:02one, royal births used to have huge audiences.
01:05According to historian and author Carolyn Harris, this tradition began during the reign
01:08of James II and his wife, Mary Modena.
01:11All of their children had not lived past their infancy until their son, James Edward Francis
01:15Stuart, was born in 1688.
01:17Throughout Mary's pregnancy, the king was incredibly confident the baby would be a healthy
01:20boy, which prompted rumors that a baby would be smuggled into the delivery room in the
01:24event a healthy boy wasn't the outcome.
01:26To put those rumors to rest, the king allowed more than 40 courtiers into Mary's bedchamber
01:30to witness while she gave birth.
01:32What are all those men doing there?
01:34Apparently, I guess it's the custom.
01:39A more modern VIP list
01:41While a roomful of people eventually fell out of fashion for royal births, for many
01:45years a government official was still required to be present to certify the birth as authentic.
01:50The Telegraph reports that among these people were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop
01:53of London, and the Home Secretary of the day.
01:56Eventually, bishops were no longer required to be present, but home secretaries were.
02:00The last royal baby born with a home secretary as a witness was Princess Alexandra of Kent,
02:04who was born in 1936.
02:06Get out!
02:08Oh no!
02:12That blessed chloroform
02:14Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, had nine children.
02:17When Victoria was pregnant with her sixth child in 1848, she requested the use of anesthesia.
02:22At the time, however, her doctors deemed it too risky, but by the time she was ready to
02:25deliver her eighth child, her doctor's reservations had disappeared and she was administered chloroform.
02:31According to The Guardian, Queen Victoria referred to the drug as that blessed chloroform
02:34and described its effect as soothing, quieting, and delightful beyond measure.
02:38In fact, historian Carolyn Harris notes that Victoria was so impressed, she sent bottles
02:42of chloroform to her daughters and granddaughters when they were expecting children of their
02:46own.
02:47Sorry!
02:48Give me some drugs!
02:49I don't need drugs!
02:50Give me that stuff!
02:51I want those drugs!
02:52A history of home births
02:54Until Anne, Princess Royal, elected to deliver at St. Mary's Hospital in London, nearly all
02:58royal babies had been born at home.
03:01Even Queen Elizabeth II was born via C-section at her grandparents' home in London, according
03:05to the 2002 obituary for the Queen Mother.
03:07In yet another departure from tradition, until recently a royal baby's father usually wasn't
03:11present for the birth.
03:12That changed with Prince Charles, who, according to MSNBC, broke the tradition of paternal
03:17absence when he remained in the room with Princess Diana during Prince William's birth
03:20in 1982.
03:22Over 30 years later, William chose to be in the room with Kate during her deliveries of
03:25both George and Charlotte, and will undoubtedly do the same for baby number three.
03:30Pomp and circumstance
03:32The official announcement of a royal baby's birth is infused with centuries of tradition.
03:36Not only is the queen to be informed of the birth before the general public, there's a
03:39lot of pomp and circumstance associated with the announcement.
03:42When Prince George was born in 2013, Buckingham Palace announced the birth by placing a framed
03:46proclamation on a gold-trimmed wooden easel, just inside the palace gates.
03:50The tradition, which dates back to the 18th century, was carried out again after Princess
03:54Charlotte's birth.
03:55According to The Telegraph, however, when Kate and William's next prince or princess
03:58is born, Kensington Palace's announcement will be emailed to the press and go live on
04:02social media before the easel is placed outside Buckingham Palace.
04:06And you thought your cousin's birth announcement on Facebook was a big deal.
04:10A little wiggle room
04:11Despite the rules surrounding a royal birth announcement, there is no strict royal protocol
04:15when it comes to baptism, though there is some tradition involved.
04:18Before 2013, royal babies were typically baptized in the music room of Buckingham Palace
04:23by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
04:24But when Prince George was baptized in October 2013, USA Today reports that the uncharacteristically
04:30small ceremony was held in the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace and there were only 22
04:34people in attendance.
04:35For Princess Charlotte's baptism, The Guardian notes that the family chose a church in Sundringham,
04:39Norfolk where the royal family has an estate.
04:41In another break with tradition, William and Kate chose close friends and family members
04:45as opposed to foreign dignitaries to be George and Charlotte's godparents.
04:49Their baptism best
04:51There is one area where William and Kate did stick with tradition.
04:54Both George and Charlotte were baptized in a replica of a Victorian gown worn by generations
04:58of royal babies stretching back to 1841.
05:01According to The Telegraph, the original gown was commissioned by Queen Victoria for the
05:04baptism of her oldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal.
05:07Made of silk with a lace overlay, it was designed after Queen Victoria's wedding dress.
05:11In its 163 years of use, the original was worn by 62 royal babies, including Queen Elizabeth,
05:17Prince Charles, and Prince William.
05:19The gown was retired in 2004 when it became too fragile for further use and the replica
05:23was commissioned.
05:24Prince George was reportedly the fourth royal baby to be baptized in the replica gown.
05:28This is a priceless family heirloom.