Queen Elizabeth II today met her new great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana for the first time at Kensington Palace, three days after the fourth in line to the throne was born.
The British monarch drove from her Sandringham estate in the east of England to visit the new-born, her fifth great grandchild, at Prince William and Kate's Kensington Palace residence in London.
The visit came soon after William signed the birth register, witnessed by a registrar from Westminster Register Office.
The nearly hour-long meeting with the Queen and official birth registration this afternoon means the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are ready to head to their Anmer Hall country home in Norfolk, possibly tomorrow, for an extended period.
The Duke will then begin the final part of his training before he begins flying patients to hospital, mainly based at Cambridge Airport with some shifts based in Norwich.
Both locations are easier to get to from Anmer Hall than from London.
Kate's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, will be house guests for the next week or so, helping their daughter look after Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The new baby, who is fourth in line to Britain's throne, will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
She was born on May 2 in the Lindo Wing of London's St Mary's Hospital weighing 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg).
The Queen and other senior royals were told of the baby's name before the announcement was made public yesterday.
Charlotte, the feminine form of Charles, has a long royal pedigree and became popular in the 18th century when it was the name of George III's queen.
The King bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a family home close to St.
James's Palace -- it became known as the Queen's House and is now Buckingham Palace.
Charlotte also has more recent connections for the royal couple as on Kate's side, it is the middle name of her sister Pippa Middleton and on William's side it is the name of his cousin Charlotte Spencer, daughter of his mother Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers said the choice of Charlotte as a name seemed to be based on taste rather than history.
He said: "I don't think she is burdened by any history associated with it and to be honest I think they just chose the name because they liked it, which is what they do and what we respect about them."
"We historians can always find someone called Charlotte but I think basically they just liked the name," Vickers said.
Elizabeth is an ode to the name of the current Queen of England and Diana a tribute to the memory of William's late mother.
