From a change of masthead at ‘The Son’ to ‘Famous Woman Gives Birth’: Royal baby front pages around the world

The Sun changed the name on its masthead for what is believed to be the first time in its 49-year history today as it heralded the arrival of the Royal baby.

It splashed on a full-bleed picture of the framed message outside Buckingham Palace, announcing that the Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a baby boy, under a masthead reading: “The Son”.

Having had reporters camped out in west London for weeks, most of the UK nationals went predictably big on news of the royal birth, which broke at 8.30pm – so in time to make all the morning editions.

Of the main national papers, only The Independent provided a refuge for any rogue republicans, choosing to lead on the news of David Cameron’s proposed crackdown on internet pornography. Although it did run the story under a picture of the palace announcement.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Daily Mail plumped for a picture of Prince Charles, looking like he was about to break into a celebratory jig, under the headline “Oh boy! One’s a grandpa”.

The Times ran a souvenir wrap featuring a picture of the Duchess and Prince William.

The Daily Mirror also carried a picture of the couple on a full-bleed front page headlined “Our little prince”.

However, not everyone at the Mirror was as on-message. A column from Brian Reade railed at the “blanket coverage” of the event.

He wrote: “For millions of Britons, being asked to celebrate that a stranger is being born into a life of the highest privilege just because a sperm of a royal fertilised an upper middle-class woman’s egg, is as jarring as it is baffling.”

Private Eye was also in typically irreverent form with its front cover for the latest issue. The satirical magazine, which went to press on Monday night, ran a plain white cover with the message: “Woman has baby” (pic from @andybolton).

Away from the British Royal press pack, Ireland’s Metro Herald was in a similarly cheeky mood, captioning its picture of the Duchess “Famous woman gives birth”.

In the regional press The Wigan Evening News, Aberdeen Press & Journal and Belfast Telegraph were among those that splashed on the arrival of the newest member of the House of Windsor today.