William craddles premature tots

Sep 21, 2006, 16:24 GMT

Britain's Prince William visited premature babies at the hospital where he was born yesterday (20.09.06).

The 24-year-old prince followed in the footsteps of his late mother Princess Diana, who toured the same specialist baby unit at London's St Mary's Hospital in 1990, by cuddling the tiny tots.

The second-in-line to the throne had been invited to the hospital to open the refurbished Winnicott neo-natal baby unit.

Nurses persuaded the prince to hold premature twins and when asked if his girlfriend Kate Middleton was feeling broody, William blushed and said: "Broody? I don't know about that. Not yet."

William was initially hesitant about holding the premature babies, admitting: "I haven't got the same touch with the babies as my mother used to have. They usually start crying when I pick them up."

However, the babies did nothing more than gurgle as they slept soundly in the prince's arms.

Cuddling three-week-old Sina Nuru, who wore a vest bearing the words 'Little Princess', William said: "She's very nice and calm. She's so sweet. She's only slightly bigger than my hand."

The prince, who whispered while speaking to the children's parents so he didn't disturb the little patients, showed genuine concern for the tiny twins and asked their mother how she was coping.

William spent more than an hour touring the Winnicott unit and when he left the hospital he happily spoke to well-wishers and posed for photographs.

(C) BANG Media International