Royal Family

Kate Middleton and Prince William's third child has a name fit for a king ... Louis Arthur Charles!

The name of the new little royal was announced Friday by Kensington Palace, and he will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge. Not too shabby for a 4-day-old.

As we reported ... Kate gave birth to her baby Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in London. As is tradition, the Town Crier announced the birth from the steps of the Lindo Wing of the hospital.

The smart money was on the name Arthur, because royals are traditionally named after relatives and Arthur is commonly used in the royal family. Louis was among the top contenders but was by no means the favorite. It's one of his older bro Prince George's middle names, and also one of William's.

Fittingly, his little Highness -- now fifth in line to the throne -- has taken the name made most famous by The Kingsmen ... no relation.

Congrats! Big things to come for little Louis, we are sure.

Kate Middleton and Prince William's freshly named little Prince Louis Arthur Charles may be fifth in line to the throne, but he's already ruling when it comes to raking in gifts from celebs and dignitaries.

We're told James Corden, Diane von Furstenberg and the First Family of Gabon -- the African nation whose prez is tight with the Duke and Duchess -- all threw down at least $1k on gift baskets for Prince Louis. The top spender was the First Fam, who we're told dropped $5k at Bev Hills baby boutique Petit Tresor. Here are just a few of the gifts:

-- James Corden: limited edition, 23-book Beatrix Potter collection and plush characters toy set ($750).

-- Diane von Furstenberg: 2 complete lines of organic cotton bodysuits, onesies, and other first year clothing items ($500), and wooden learning blocks in English, Hebrew, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, and Persian ($500).

-- First Family of Gabon: Petit Tresor Silver Treasures gift basket with silver sippy cup, rattle, keepsake box, comb/brush set, cutlery/bowl set, and cake candleholders ($3,500).

We're told they had to drop another $200 to ship the gifts from Cali to the UK.

We think Gabon's First Fam can swing the expense. Ditto for James and Diane.

9:57 AM PT -- Kate and the new bouncing royal have made their first public appearance together!

Will was also there by her side for the big reveal on the steps of the hospital. Both mom and baby have been reported to be in perfect health.

Kate Middleton has just given birth to her third child ... and it's a BOY!!!

The Duchess of Cambridge popped Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in London. The new royal was announced to weigh in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. by Kensington Palace. Prince William was at Kate's side for the birth.

As is tradition, the Town Crier announced the birth from the steps of the Lindo Wing of the hospital. The customary announcement -- complete with bell ringing and feathered cap -- was also made for Kate's other two births.

Kate and Prince William announced last September baby No. 3 was on the way but the announcement came only after the cat had been outta the bag. The royal family was seemingly forced to announce she was pregnant after canceling a public appearance due to extreme morning sickness.

She also suffered from morning sickness before giving birth to Prince George in 2013 and Princess Charlotte in 2015. Btw ... baby No. 3 will be fifth in line to the throne -- after Prince Charles, Prince William and his 2 siblings.

Congrats!!

Kate Middleton and Prince William haven't announced the name for their newborn son yet, but there's already a bunch of people betting it'll be Arthur.

We reached out to Ladbrokes, a major UK betting company, who's been taking bets on the new royal baby name and Arthur is the clear frontrunner.

If you're wondering why Arthur ... royals are traditionally named after relatives and Arthur is commonly used in the royal family. Both Prince Charles and Prince William have Arthur as a middle name, but it hasn't been used as a first name in a while.

Check out the top contenders:

-- Arthur 6/4
-- James 5/1
-- Albert 6/1
-- Philip 6/1
-- Thomas 10/1
-- Alexander 12/1
-- Henry 12/1

Funnily enough, it’s not looking good for daddy’s namesake. William bottoms the list at 25/1.

There are some familiar names on the potential godparent list as well ... the top contender is Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Prince William's old nanny ... and Prince Harry comes in at 10/1 -- tied with Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister. Meghan Markle is further down at 14/1. Some celebs with not such good odds? Elton John at 50/1, David Beckham at 100/1 and Donald Trump at 1000/1.

Kate and Prince William's son was born Monday morning at St. Mary’s Hospital in London. It's their third kid, second son and fifth in line to the throne.

Andrew Morton, author of the most famous book on Princess Diana, says Meghan Markle holds a very important key for Royal Family's image.

Morton tells us Meghan becoming a Duchess after marrying Prince Harry is a much-needed step forward for the Royals after a checkered past where issues of race are concerned.

He says Meghan won't have to go around "kicking shins" to impart a sense of change at Kensington or Buckingham Palace -- her presence alone will do the trick.

Morton just wrote a new biography, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess" ... and he'll have much more to say about her in next week's "Spilling Royal Tea" podcast. Meanwhile, check out this week's episode.

Meghan Markle was back in the States this week to take a major step in becoming a permanent UK citizen ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry.

Eyewitnesses tell us Meghan attempted to be as incognito as possible -- with 4 bodyguards in tow -- when she entered the VFS Global UK Visa Application Centre Thursday in Chicago. We're told she was there to finalize her application for a UK visa.

The whole thing only took about 10 minutes, and the entire office was cleared for her. We're told she was friendly with the staff. As for her disguise -- shades and a White Sox cap to blend in with locals.

Meghan forked over about $1,500, maybe a little more, for premium processing -- so she should get her visa within a few days ... according to our sources.

Based on the visa application criteria, she most likely submitted for a family visa, and applied as a partner or spouse. That visa requires her to confirm all previous marriages, and her plans to marry or become a civil partner within 6 months of arriving in the UK.

We can hear her now ... "Maybe you've heard of my fiance."

After 6 months, Meghan can go for permanent citizenship, which Kensington Palace has said she'll do. No fast track, though ... that process can take up to 3 years.

Meghan Markle was destined for London even before she met her fiance Prince Harry -- at least according to her former psychic.

Richard Win, Meghan's longtime psychic, tells us, during his last session with her just months before she met Harry, he forecast Great Britain would loom large in Meghan's life.

Win told her, "I see you in London with a lot of British people" to which Meghan responded, "I love London ... I love British people." We're told Meghan was seeing someone else at the time, and that once she hooked up with Harry ... she emailed Win to tell him she had met someone new .. from England!

Win also says Meghan was highly intelligent and poised, noting she wasn't hungry for fame. He says her engagement to Harry couldn't happen to a nicer person.

You can officially put a "Sir" on it -- Ringo Starr took a knee Tuesday morning and received his Knighthood, a mere 21 years after Sir Paul McCartney ... but no one's counting, right?

The Beatles drummer was dubbed into the club, of royal knights by Prince William at Buckingham Palace. Aside from Paul ... he joins Elton John, Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger as the biggest rock stars to get the honor. Bono got an honorary knighthood ... that's why he doesn't get the Sir treatment.

Of course, it's debatable why it took so long for the 77-year-old Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer to get knighted.

John Lennon and George Harrison won't get it at all -- current rules require honorees to be living. Mostly everyone would agree Paul deserved it in 1997, and would also buy Ringo getting it AFTER Paul ... but TWO decades after???

Sure, Paul wrote the songs, but someone played the drums on those hits ... someone had to lay down the beat for The Beatles!

We're sure Ringo ain't complaining. Just peace and love, peace and love, baby.

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are going the way of Kim Kardashian and Blac Chyna and getting their own line of emojis.

A company called DRKHORS filed docs to trademark KateMojis and MeghanMojis.

We're told the two will be different ... KateMoji will focus on Kate and her royal family, while MeghanMoji will focus on Meghan and Harry falling in love. Each package will include British sayings and phrases -- some, like "American princess" and "cheeky bugger," are already up on the company's website, along with some KateMoji and MeghanMoji prototypes.

A rep for DRKHORS tells us the emojis are scheduled to launch May 2018, so just in time for texting around the Royal Wedding. Best of all ... the apps only cost $1.99 each.

Prince Harry has the perfect way to inspire the young women of Great Britain -- show off his bride-to-be, Meghan Markle.

The betrothed royals were in Birmingham, England Thursday to celebrate International Women's Day. Teenage girls, and several older girls too, lined up for an up-close and personal look at Harry and Meghan.

You can almost see what the young subjects were thinking as they greeted Meghan -- I wanna be you. Ditto for Harry -- I wanna be with you.

Harry and Megs gave them some more attainable goals too, while attending an event to promote careers in technology and engineering.

Queen Elizabeth was the target of an assassination attempt in New Zealand, but government officials covered it up over fear of losing future Royal tours ... according to new declassified docs.

New Zealand's Security Intelligence Service says 17-year-old Christopher Lewis fired a shot at the Queen during her October 1981 visit to Dunedin. He was arrested shortly afterward -- a rifle and used gun cartridge were found in a building overlooking QE2's parade route.

Police at the time claimed the gunshot sound was caused by a falling sign, and journalists have said cops told them not to report the incident.

According to the docs, Lewis intended to kill Elizabeth, but was never charged for it. Instead, he was accused of merely discharging a firearm. The lesser charge was an apparent attempt by top officials to cover up any connection to the Queen's parade.

The Spice Girls aren't just reuniting, they're becoming a wedding band ... but only for one very special couple.

Mel B went on "The Real" Tuesday and had a very hard time keeping anything secret about the group's involvement with the Royal Wedding -- first disclosing that all 5 girls got the invite from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ... then really spilling the beans.

Scary Spice kept getting pressed for more deets by the 'Real' ladies, and eventually seemed to confirm the Spice Girls will provide some wedding entertainment, as well.

We broke the story ... the girls have agreed to reunite for a series of concerts in the UK and U.S. beginning in late summer. We've also been told their contracts are signed ... despite Victoria Beckham saying there is no reunion tour.

Mel, btw, confirmed they've ALL signed back with their producer, Simon Fuller, and concerts dates are in the near future.

Clare-Hope Ashitey -- star of the new Netflix drama "Seven Seconds" -- is addressing the issue of race in America ... by pointing out the vast differences between the U.S. and her homeland.

We got the English actress at LAX Friday, and she tells us the racial atmosphere here makes her feel more uncomfortable and tense than she does back home ... and she has a few ideas why.

Clare admits things are far from perfect across the pond, but she thinks her people have more empathy and, more significantly, she claims they aren't still recovering from the "gaping wound" that is America's history of slavery.

The actress also brings up another hot-button issue -- guns -- specifically regarding police, as another key factor.

The good news -- Ashitey thinks the addition of Meghan Markle to the Royal Family will do some good for race relations both in England and here ... seriously.

Btw ... "Seven Seconds" is available now on Netflix, and also deals with these same topics.

Queen Elizabeth made a rare appearance on the sidelines of a catwalk as she graced London Fashion Week alongside Anna Wintour ... but she didn't seem that impressed.

The Queen was spotted sitting in the front row Tuesday at Richard Quinn's fashion show, and while a bunch of people -- including Anna -- clapped for the models as they strutted ... Elizabeth seemed to hold back a bit on the applause.

Based on this video, it's unclear if she had just wrapped up a polite Royal mini clap ... but she definitely didn't hold it as long as everyone else. Richard and co. shouldn't feel too bad, though ... apparently she hardly claps for anything.

Prince William ain't exactly the "Easy Rider" type, but he's trying his damnedest to look the part.

The Duke of Cambridge suited up Tuesday, hopped on a Triumph motorbike, popped the clutch and zoomed off -- but not too far. This was mostly a photo op, after all.

Wills visited Triumph Motorcycles and MIRA Technology Park in England -- and took a tour to celebrate the British company's world-class facilities.

Really though ... it was an awesome excuse for the father of 2 to live in the fast lane again. William used to own a Ducati back in his youth, and seemed to recapture some of that while test riding a Triumph Tiger 1200 around the factory's private track.

Kate Middleton was fighting the clock when she put on her green gown for the BAFTA Awards -- instead of black -- and her pregnancy made a switch near impossible.

Royals expert Katie Nicholl -- who wrote the book, "Kate: The Future Queen" -- tells us the Duchess of Cambridge was in a "no-win situation" Sunday with her wardrobe choice. She was criticized for going against the suggested Time's Up all-black dress code -- but Nicholl says Kate's dress was likely pre-ordered months ago and custom-made with her pregnancy in mind.

Point is ... the dress would've been chosen way before the Time's Up's buzz began in late 2017, and would preclude a last-minute wardrobe change.

There's also this -- Nicholl says members of the Royal family are encouraged to avoid political statements. That could be at play, but taking a stand against sexual harassment -- as tons of celebs have during award season -- hardly seems like a controversial stance.

So, we're going maternity dress issues for the win.