LONDON (AP) - Champagne bottles popped and shouts of "Hip! Hip! Hooray!" erupted outside Buckingham Palace on Monday as Britain welcomed the birth of Prince William and his wife Kate's first child, a boy who is now third in line to the British throne.

Hundreds of Britons and tourists broke into song and dance outside the palace gates as officials announced that the future king was born at 4:24 p.m., weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces at central London's St. Mary's Hospital - the same place where William and his brother Harry were born three decades ago.

The imminent arrival of the royal baby was the subject of endless speculation on social media and was covered for days on live television around the world, but in the end the royal family managed to keep it a remarkably private affair.

In line with royal tradition, a terse statement announced only the time of birth, the infant's gender and that mother and child were doing well. It gave no information about the baby's name, and officials would say only that a name would be announced "in due course."

"Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight," it said. William also issued a brief statement, saying "we could not be happier."

Officials said William, who was by his wife's side during the birth, would also spend the night in the hospital.

William's press aides had talked about preserving Kate's "dignity" throughout the pregnancy, and the way the birth was handled showed that the palace's impressive stagecraft could give the royals a bubble of privacy even in the age of Twitter and 24-hour news broadcasts.

Just before 6 a.m., 31-year-old Kate, also known as the Duchess of Cambridge, entered the hospital through a side door, avoiding the mass of journalists camped outside. Officials did not announce she was hospitalized until more than an hour later.

Plane's front landing gear fails; 10 injured

NEW YORK - The front landing gear of a flight arriving at New York's LaGuardia Airport collapsed Monday right after the plane touched down on the runway, officials said, sending the aircraft skidding before it came to a halt.

Ten passengers were treated at the scene, with six being taken to a hospital with minor injuries, said Thomas Bosco, Acting Director of Aviation for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the area airports. There were 150 people on Southwest Airlines Flight 345.

Bosco said the nose gear of the plane collapsed when it landed at 5:40 p.m., and "the aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in the grass area."

Family of Egypt's ousted leader slams military

CAIRO - The family of ousted President Mohammed Morsi furiously denounced the military Monday, accusing it of "kidnapping" him, and European diplomats urged that Egypt's first freely elected leader be released after being held incommunicado for nearly three weeks since being deposed by the army.

The fate of Morsi, who has been held without charge, has become a focus of the political battle between his Muslim Brotherhood and the new military-backed government.

- The Associated Press