The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted to hospital in labour, Kensington Palace has said. 

Kate was taken to the private Lindo wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and the newest addition to the royal family is likely to be born on St George’s Day. 

The baby prince or princess will be fifth in line to the throne and will be the Queen’s sixth great-grandchild as well as a younger brother or sister for Prince George and Princess Charlotte. 

Kensington Palace tweeted: “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London earlier this morning in the early stages of labour.”

The Duchess is being cared for by consultant obstetrician Guy Thorpe-Beeston and consultant gynaecologist Alan Farthing, the Queen’s surgeon gynaecologist. 

For her previous births, Kate had a 23-strong team of top medics working or on standby from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust - which runs St Mary's Hospital.

With George, the duchess gave birth 10-and-a-half hours after being admitted to hospital, but Charlotte was born just two hours and 34 minutes after Kate arrived at the Lindo Wing.

The birth will be declared in both conventional and contemporary ways.

An announcement will be emailed to the press and a celebratory tweet posted on the Kensington Palace Twitter feed - @KensingtonRoyal.

There will also be the traditional custom of placing a framed paper proclamation on an ornate gold stand behind the iron railings of Buckingham Palace.

Bookmakers will be waiting to see whether they have to pay out on the name, delivery date, hair colour and weight of the baby.

Predicted names include Alice, Alexandra, Elizabeth, Mary and Victoria for a girl and Arthur, Albert, Frederick, James and Philip for a boy.

While Kate is in labour, George and Charlotte are likely to be cared for by their full-time, live-in nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.

If the baby is a boy, William and Kate will be following in the footsteps of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who had a son, a daughter and then another son.