Anthony Devlin - WPA Pool/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II is ready for the royal baby!
Hours after Kate Middleton was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in London in the early stages of labor, the 87-year-old royal has returned to Buckingham Palace. The royal standard is currently flying above signaling the queen back in residence, according to NBC News.
Per British media, there were "frantic scenes" outside the gates of Buckingham Palace when the queen arrived as members of the public fought to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty as the world awaits for the arrival of the future heir.
The Buckingham Palace press office says the queen did not go back because Kate is in labor, but instead regularly returns to the palace on a Monday after being at Windsor Castle over the weekend. She was at Windsor Castle in Berkshire when she received the news of the little one's impending arrival.
Middleton entered the hospital shortly before 6 a.m. local time Monday and went into labor naturally at the Lindo Wing with Prince William by her side.
"Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted this morning to St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London in the early stages of labor," read an official statement from the palace, released Monday morning, local time. "The Duchess traveled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge."
"Things are progressing as normal," a spokesperson added.
In a break from tradition, Prince William is reportedly planning to call his grandmother on an encrypted phone line to inform her of the baby's birth, a departure from protocol in which the queen was expected to be informed via a hand-delivered notice.
Once the baby arrives, the announcement will be made public with a proclamation, signed by the doctors who deliver the third in line to the British throne, placed on an easel outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Currently, crowds are gathered in record numbers (and bearing the heat!) outside St. Mary's, eagerly awaiting for the royal press officer to confirm the arrival of the little prince or princess.
Can't wait!