“Pure Joy”: Catherine’s Emotional Recollection of the First Moments She and William Held Baby Prince George

Was browsing through a book and came to the time when Prince George joined the world, and it’s a wonderful story….
When George was born on 22 July 2013, Catherine and William chose to delay the official announcement by four hours. Likely to savor his safe arrival.
Catherine’s hair stylist was one of the first people to meet the newborn prince, since she helped Catherine with her hair before the new family appeared in front of all those cameras outside the Lindo Wing.
The proud new royal fathers typically faced the cameras alone, talking about their new child, but Prince William and Catherine POW decided to do this as a family.
“Speaking about the moment when she and William held George for the first time, Catherine recalled, ‘He was very sweet. And I was also relieved that he was a happy, healthy boy. Also seeing your husband and seeing pure joy on his face. It’s special.’
Catherine later explained why they wanted to appear together before the wall of cameras and news teams from around the world, “‘William and I were really conscious that this was something that everyone was excited about and you know we’re hugely grateful for the support the public had shown us, and actually for us to be able to share that joy and appreciation with the public, I felt was really important.
“‘But equally it was coupled with a newborn baby and inexperienced parents, and the uncertainty of what that held, so there were all sorts of mixed emotions.'”
Imagine when you first left the hospital with your newborn. Just you and maybe your partner, spouse, or mom, and it’s scary. That little baby is yours, but they need so much and you’ve never done this before. It’s overwhelming. And we didn’t have to talk to essentially the world about our newborn child.
But 27 hours after George’s birth “an exhausted but beaming Catherine emerged through the door with her proud husband, William, who could hardly keep his eyes off his son and heir as he stood by her side. In her arms, Catherine showed off their 8lb 6oz bundle of joy amidst tumultuous cheers from hundreds of well-wishers and hospital staff crammed into every vantage point. Simultaneously, television transmitted the picture-perfect image of the new royal family to the world.”
I still recall watching them showing baby George to the cameras and answering some questions. With George, Catherine and William approached the cameras much more than they did with their two other babies. I don’t know if they did that because George is the one with the destiny to be king, or because he was their firstborn and they decided to hold back with their other two babies due to experience and confidence.
Baby George was swaddled, but he managed to free his two little hands and kept them by his face, and the cameras went crazy.
William confirmed that George had been born after his due date (how many of us have been there, too?) saying, “‘I’ll remind him of his tardiness. I know how long you’ve been standing here, so hopefully the hospital and you guys can go back to normal now and we can go and look after him.'”
“With only their Scotland Yard personal police protection accompanying them, William drove his new family off to their temporary Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage.”
William and Catherine waited to reveal their baby’s name, however. On 24 July the name was shared, George Alexander Louis.
Such a beginning for the family of five now. I thought it was a sweet moment in time, and thought maybe we could use a happy story at this point.
And now that baby boy is attending Eton College. George has grown up! Oh boy!

Excerpts from Catherine, the Princess of Wales.