10 royal baby traditions to know

AND THE LAST NAME?

The royals don't require a surname. The correct title when referring to the royal baby will be His or Her Royal Highness Prince or Princess (name) of Cambridge. If required, current members of the royal household may use Mountbatten-Windsor, the surname adopted in 1960 for all of the queen's children. (That name combines Windsor, the family name adopted by King George V in 1917 to replace Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Prince Philip's family name, Mountbatten).

Prince William, the heir of Charles, the Prince of Wales, is known as Flight Lt. Wales when on military duty.

CHRISTENING

Royal babies tend to be officially christened several days to weeks after they are born, and there are a few potential places this could take place for the new baby.

The queen was christened in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace, while both William and his father Charles were christened in the palace's Music Room.

A PLAIN OLD EASEL VS. TWITTER

The traditional way the palace announces a royal baby's birth to the world is as quaint as it gets: A messenger with the news travels by car from the hospital to Buckingham Palace, carrying a piece of paper detailing the infant's gender, weight and time of birth. The bulletin is then posted on a wooden easel on the palace's forecourt for everyone to see.

In the old days the announcement was made to the wider public by a reader on radio, but today that's replaced by the Internet and social media: As soon as the bulletin is fixed on the easel, officials will post the news on Twitter to millions of followers worldwide.

TO NANNY OR NOT

William and Kate have not made any public announcements about hiring a nanny to help them bring up their child. Many expect the couple to be more hands-on parents than earlier generations of royals, and some have speculated that because of the couple's close ties with Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton will also have a big role in helping Kate with the baby.

Nannies have always been central to bringing up royal babies. Charles was famously close to his nannies, and William and Harry also enjoyed a bond with their former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke - who was so well known that she herself frequently appeared in the news.

A WELCOME WITH A BANG

Some things don't really change. A 62-gun salute from the Tower of London and a 41-gun salute from Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, will welcome the baby into the world with a bang, just as it did when previous royals were born. If the baby is born on a weekday, the salute will be mounted within six hours; if it's a weekend birth, the salute will wait until Monday, the Ministry of Defense says.