Princess Diana made royal history with Prince William's birth

When 21-year-old Princess Diana gave birth to Prince William in 1982, she made global headlines - and royal history.
 
The future king was born in the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London, the same hospital his own children have since been born in, with the third due to arrive any day now.
 
This fact may seem perfectly standard, but it marked a significant moment for the British royal family: the first time a direct heir to the throne had been born in a hospital.

Diana wasn’t the first to buck this trend altogether - that honour goes to Anne, Princess Royal, who gave birth at St Mary’s Hospital in 1977 and 1981.

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Queen Victoria was medicated with ether during her births - a sensation she described as "soothing, quieting and delightful beyond measure" - while Queen Elizabeth II is said to have also embraced the technique. 
 
Fans of royal Netflix drama The Crown might recall the procedure was depicted in season two when Her Majesty, played by Claire Foy, welcomed her son Andrew.

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“It was the first active royal birth — a complete contrast to the Queen's reflection that, with modern anaesthesia, birth had become 'a sleep and a forgetting'.”
 
Kitzinger suggests this wasn’t just a significant moment for the mothers of the ruling family.
 
“[Diana’s] contribution to reclaiming birth for women actually kick-started radical changes in hospitals,” she adds.

The princess also explained that she had to be induced, adding, "I couldn’t handle the press pressure any longer, it was becoming unbearable. It was as if everybody was monitoring every day for me."
 
While the Duchess of Cambridge was reportedly contemplating a return to royal tradition by welcoming her third child at home, she will once again give birth at St Mary's Hospital.