Everything You Need to Know About the Royal-Approved Maternity Ward, the Lindo Wing
Kate Middleton, Princess Diana, and more royals have chosen to deliver in the Lindo Wing-and they usually pose outside with the newborn, just after the birth.
Meghan Markle has chosen a different path, instead opting to keep her birth plan private, and forgo the photocall outside the hospital.
Here, what you need to know about the Lindo Wing, a maternity ward that offers discretion-and fine champagne.
Giving birth is no walk in the park, no matter where you do it, but for royalty and London's elite alike, the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital Paddington is, without question, the maternity ward of choice. So what exactly makes it so special? The care, the convenience, and, of course, the privacy it offers to the high profile names it caters to.
Here's everything you know about this royal-approved facility.
Two generations of royals have been born there.
The tradition of using the Lindo Wing for royal births appears to date back to the ultimate royal trend-setter, Princess Anne, who gave birth to both of her children, Peter and Zara Phillips there. Princess Diana, in turn, tapped the Lindo Wing for the birth of Prince William, making him the first heir-apparent to be born in a hospital (all of the Queen's children were born at Buckingham Palace). She returned to their care for the birth of Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, has used the spot for the births of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Clearly Kate spoke well of the service, because her little sister Pippa also selected the Lindo Wing for the birth of her first child.
It's a hot-spot for royals watchers.
Media positions are sometimes set up in the area around the hospital weeks in advance of a highly-anticipated birth. For Prince Louis' birth in 2018, spots for photographers and writers were set up as early as April 9, even though the young prince didn't actually make an appearance until April 23.
"Because it is a working hospital, nobody is allowed into those positions until we’re told that the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted," Shutterstock Royal Photographer Tim Rooke told Town & Country at the time. He also shared that for both Princess Charlotte and Prince George, the media positions went up two weeks before Duchess Kate gave birth.
You don't need a royal pedigree to give birth there.
While rooms in the Lindo Wing are highly prized, you don't have to be a member of the peerage to make use of one. Amal Clooney famously gave birth to her twins with George Clooney there in 2017.
It has high-end amenities.
The rooms are designed to be comfortable and functional, but not opulent. Meals are cooked by chefs, and a waiter comes round every morning to take orders for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s also a wine and champagne list for those celebratory toasts, and the option of afternoon tea. Rooms reportedly start at a minimum of ￡5,215 a night (roughly $7,325), and suites are available if you apply for them-and are said to cost around ￡10,000 a night ($14,0445).
"The most vital thing the Lindo offers is discretion, with each new mother ensconced in her own en-suite room equipped with high-speed internet, radio, safe, fridge and television." Karen Yossman, who gave birth there last year, wrote in the Telegraph. "I didn’t see or hear another patient during the entirety of my stay. " They even reportedly have blackout curtains to ensure privacy for their patients.
The level of care is as high as you'd expect.
Though there's no word on how many professionals are present for a standard birth at the Lindo Wing, for the royal births of Prince William and Kate Middleton's kids there was actually a team of over 20 top medical staff on hand, including the queen’s surgeon-gynecologist Alan Farthing, the royal family’s surgeon-gynecologist Guy Thorpe-Beeston, neonatologist and pediatrician Dr. Sunit Godambe, physician to the queen and head of the medical household Professor Huw Thomas, and a team of midwives including Jacqui Dunkley-Bent and Arona Ahmed. Not all of them were there on the day, though.
“We had a huge team," said Professor Tiong Ghee Teoh, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, after the birth of Princess Charlotte. "For anything that could possibly go wrong we had a team of people behind each speciality. Everyone was sworn to secrecy about who it was.”
“We were on call for three months," adds anesthesiologist Dr. Johanna Bray. "You never know when you need to be called-you need to be in town and available. If you are at a party you need to have your car keys at the ready. No drinking!”
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