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Duchess Kate Talks ‘Terrifying’ Post-Baby Debut After Prince George’s Birth: ‘There Were All Sorts of Mixed Emotions’

Duchess Kate on ‘Terrifying’ Post-Baby Debut After Prince George’s Birth
Kate Middleton at The Ark Open Farm in Newtownards visiting Northern Ireland on February 12, 2020.Tim Rooke/Shutterstock

Royal welcome. Duchess Kate is speaking candidly about her experience introducing her eldest son, Prince George, to the world on the steps of the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

Related: Prince William and Duchess Kate’s Sweetest Moments With Their Kids

The royal, 38, revealed that post-baby debut, which occurred on July 23, 2013, just one day after George, now 6, was born, was “terrifying” but “important.”

“Yeah, slightly terrifying, slightly terrifying, I’m not going to lie,” Kate told author Giovanna Fletcher about the introduction in an interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast on Saturday, February 15. “Everyone had been so supportive, and both [Prince] William and I were really conscious that this was something that everyone was excited about and, you know, we’re hugely grateful for the support that the public had shown us.”

She added, “Actually for us to be able to share that joy and appreciation with the public, I felt was really important. But equally it was coupled with a newborn baby, and inexperienced parents, and the uncertainty of what that held, so there were all sorts of mixed emotions.”

Related: Duchess Kate Through the Years

Kate, who introduced her younger children, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 20 months, in a similar fashion, went on to reflect on the first moment she held George in her arms. The mother of three, who married Prince William, 37, in 2011, explained that the experience left her filled with relief and joy.

“Amazing, amazing. It is extraordinary as I’ve said. How can the human body do that? It is utterly extraordinary actually,” she gushed. “And he was very sweet. And I was also sort of relieved that he was a happy, healthy boy.”

The first night with her little one, however, was not as seamless, according to Kate. The Duchess of Cambridge, who appeared on the podcast to advocate for early childhood development and her “5 Big Questions” survey, explained that her battle with acute morning sickness left her “desperate” to leave the hospital following the birth of George.

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“Everything goes in a bit of a blur,” she shared. “I think, yeah I did stay in hospital overnight. I remember it was one of the hottest days and night with huge thunderstorms so I didn’t get a huge amount of sleep, but George did, which was really great. I was keen to get home because, for me, being in hospital, I had all the memories of being in hospital because of being sick [with acute morning sickness] so it wasn’t a place I wanted to hang around in. So, I was really desperate to get home and get back to normality.”

Luckily, Kate had the support of her husband, William, who had a look of “pure joy” on his face after learning that George was a boy. The couple chose to wait until birth to find out whether they were having a baby boy or baby girl.

“I didn’t know, no it was a surprise. But also seeing… you know, your husband, William, and things like that. Seeing the pure joy of his face, it was really special,” Kate dished.

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