Proud Larne parents share royal baby joy

As the whole world waited with baited breath on Monday, Kate Middleton gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 8lb 6oz at 4.24pm.

And on the same day, two sets of delighted Larne parents got to meet their own bundles of joy.

Proud parents Julianne Liken and her fiancé Steve McConnell – who live at Isle Court, Inver – welcomed their daughter Lily Jane Cherlene McConnell into the world at 1.42pm.

Lily was born at Antrim Area hospital, weighing 7lb 6 1/2oz. She is Julianne’s second child, following three-year-old Stevie.

Meanwhile at 5.50pm, less than an hour-and-a-half after the royal baby arrived, little Darcie-Esther McCord was born to Craigyhill couple Janette Sommerville and her fiancé Johnathan McCord.

Darcie-Esther was born at the Ulster Hospital and weighed 8lb 2oz.

Both families will receive a silver penny from the Royal Mint to mark the occasion.

Janette (29), who also has a six-year-old son called Dillon, told the Times : “Ever since I found out I was pregnant, my fiancé and I joked that we could have our baby on the same day as Kate and Prince William. We never for a minute thought it would actually happen.”

When asked if she had considered giving her daughter a royal-sounding name, Janette said: “We had the name Darcie-Esther picked out long ago. Esther is my middle name and was my grandmother’s name, so I wanted to pass it down to my daughter.”

Julianne (25) said she was over the moon that her daughter’s birthday coincided with that of the new prince’s.

“I think its just great,” she added.

“The fact that our daughter shares her birthday with the future King makes her arrival even more special.”

The birth of the new prince – the third in line to the throne – was announced in a statement issued by Kensington Palace.

It was then displayed on an ornate easel at Buckingham Palace, where royal watchers and tourists queued in the rain to catch a glimpse.

At the time of going to press, the name of the baby had not been announced.