Buckingham Palace delayed the announcement of the birth by four hours to allow the couple to spend "quality time" with their son.
Our rolling blog contains details of everything related to the royal baby on his first day of life - from celebrity Tweets and Instagram photos to breaking news announcements. Scroll to the bottom of this story.Plus: Scoll down to see more photos, .
The Queen arrives at Buckhingham Palace before the birth. She will soon see her new great grandson. Picture: Splash
The happy parents are then likely leave the hospital for Buckingham Palace so the Queen and other members of the royal family can meet their latest addition.
William and Kate will spend their first days as a family at their unit at Kensington Palace before moving to live with the Middletons for a couple of weeks.
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Visitors to Niagara Falls receive notice of the sex of the royal baby indicated by the blue light illuminating the falls in Niagara Falls, New York. Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP
They have been enoying a quiet night alone at their luxury hospital suite.
Just on 8.30pm London time, Kensington Palace announced a future king had been born four hours earlier at 4.24pm, weighing 8lb 6oz or 3.8kgs with both mum and bub in perfect health.
The press release from Kensington Palace announcing the birth of the son of Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, in London.
"They are both doing well," a palace spokesman said.
"All the members of their families are absolutely delighted. The duchess and her child are doing well as is Prince William who was with her the whole way through. It has been a wonderful day."
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An easel stands in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in London on July 22, 2013, to announce the birth of a baby boy, at 4.24pm to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, at St Mary's Hospital. AFP PHOTOSource: AFP
The news was also announced by a self-appointed Town Crier, Tony Appleton, a 76-year-old from Essex who also took part in the Olympics, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and William and Catherine's wedding.
"It was one of the biggest moments of my life," he told News Corp Australia, as he downed a pint at a London pub.
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A Town Crier reads an announcement about the birth of a baby boy at 4.24pm to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIESource: AFP
More: Celebs react to #royalbaby on Twitter
The news was greeted with wild celebration across the country, notably at the gates of Buckingham Palace where thousands gathered for the theatrical traditional announcement of the birth involving a police-escorted royal courier delivering the signed proclamation to the palace to be displayed on an easel at the gates.
The festivities outside the palace and elsewhere in the capital, including Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square, went on well into the early morning with some not deterred by a huge storm that struck later in the evening. The crowds were gathering again today with people just wanting to be part of the historic celebrations with the birth making it the first time since 1894 that there are three direct male heirs to the throne.
Blue lights illuminate the Golden Jubilee Bridges over the River Thames in central London on July 22, 2013. Prince William's wife Kate on July 22 gave birth to a baby boy who will one day inherit the British throne, Kensington Palace said in a statement. AFP PHOTO / WILL OLIVER
News of the royal birth was also announced by the palace on Twitter which almost collapsed under the weight of more than 487 million users viewing posts, the busiest day in the social media's history.
Surprisingly, only 41 per cent of the posts came from Britain, the rest coming from the United States, Canada and Australia showing the global interest in the event.
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The Sun newspaper’s website changes its name to celebrate the royal birthSource: Supplied
The Queen returned to Buckingham Palace on Monday afternoon just a couple of hours before Prince William rang her to personally tell her the joyous news she had a great grandson. William also rang his father, Prince Charles, brother Prince Harry and Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton, who also spoke to their daughter by phone from their home in Bucklebury, 80km west of London.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, is thrilled with the news of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, having a baby boy. AFP PHOTO/ DANNY LAWSON
Her majesty will on Friday head to Balmoral in Scotland for her annual summer break and it is expected William and Kate, both 31, will share their baby with her before she goes.
Not since Queen Victoria 120 years ago has a reigning monarch seen a great grandchild born in direct succession.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles leave St Mary's Hospital with a newborn Prince William in 1982.
Later, 71 horses from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery are to pull six First World War era 13-pounder field guns through the streets of London to perform a 41-gun royal salute at Green Park near Buckingham Palace.
A second gun salute is to be fired from near the Tower of London. Even the daily changing of the guards at the palace got into the spirit of the birth, performing a special "congratulations" tune.
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Crowds gather to see an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in London on July 22, 2013, announcing the birth of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's baby boy. AFP PHOTO / WILL OLIVERSource: AFP
Prince Charles, a grandad for the first time, on Monday continued his two day tour of York in the north of the country.
He said he was overjoyed at the news.
"It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy," he said.
Karen Milne, (L) from Scotland, wears a mask representing Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as she and her friends Rachelle Rodriguez (C) and Michelle Lewis (R) celebrate the royal birth announcement at Ye Olde King's Head English Pub July 22, 2013 in Santa Monica, California. Getty Images/AFP
Of course the hottest question in town is what the name of the baby will be. Prince William and Kate could make that announcement as early as today. When Diana gave birth to William his name was not made public for a week while Harry's was announced on the steps of the hospital when he was born in 1984. It was a month before the world learned Prince Charles' name when he was born.
"The names of the baby will be announced in due course," was all a palace spokesman would say on the timing for names to be revealed.
Royal family members normally have multiple names, Prince William's for example is William Arthur Philip Louis in homage to various royal relatives.
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Crowds of tourists gather on the steps of the Queen Victoria Memorial Statue outside Buckingham Palace in central London on July 22, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISSource: Supplied
duke and duchess will tell the Queen of their chosen name as a courtesy rather than seeking approval.
"This isn't going to be 'granny do you approve?' but more 'these are the names we've chosen do you like them?'."
There are a number of "safe" historical royal names in contention, including George, James, Alexander, Albert, Henry (Prince Harry's real name) and Louis but Francis is believed to be favoured by the royal couple as it is both Kate's father and grandfather's middle name.
Whatever name the royal couple choose it will define an era, and already there are predictions it will set a trend for the next generation
Betting on the baby's name has gone "bonkers" according to British bookies, who have George and James as front runners.
The birth is also expected to spark a $400 million boost to the economy with a rush for royal baby memorabilia which hit the shelves immediatley. Business analysts predicted everything the royal couple buy for bub from the pram to the jumpsuit will be copied by other new families.
Headline writers of most of the British newspapers didn't attempt to wax lyrical with the news, "It's a Boy" most declaring in a simple headline splash.
"Oh Boy One's a Grandfather" stated one newspaper headline with a large photograph of Prince Charles on the cover while The Sun newspaper simply changed its red top banner to "The Son" with an image of the royal proclamation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was an "important moment in the life of our nation''.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that "we share in the joy of the royal family, particularly Prince Charles on the birth of his grandson and Queen Elizabeth II on the birth of her great-grandchild.
"This is a happy day for our close friends in Britain and the Commonwealth."
Opposition leader Tony Abbott said the birth would be the happiest day of William and Kate's lives.
Mr Abbott, a monarchist, expects all Australians would share their joy in the birth of the new prince.
"While there will come a time to contemplate the constitutional duties that await the young prince, today we simply welcome a baby boy into the world and share the joy of this young family,'' Mr Abbott said in a statement.
"I am sure that over the course of his life, the prince will, like the rest of his family, develop a deep affection for our country, as we already have for him.''
In the US, President Barack Obama and wife Michelle wished William and Catherine "`all the happiness and blessings parenthood brings''.
"The child enters the world at a time of promise and opportunity for our two nations,'' the president said in a White House statement.
"Given the special relationship between us, the American people are pleased to join with the people of the United Kingdom as they celebrate the birth of the young prince.''
The world has paid tribute to the birth of the boy in many ways, even Niagra Falls was lit up in blue
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