The parents and the perhaps future king left Kensington Palace in London by car around lunchtime, UK media reported. The couple has been mum about their immediate schedules.
British media were feverishly reporting where they might be, with the consensus being that the couple and child went to the village of Bucklebury, where Catherine’s parents live.
Earlier Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II went to Kensington Palace to see the newborn for the first time. Uncle Harry paid a visit, too, the palace told reporters.
The public got its first look at the child Tuesday evening, outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London.
The prince and his wife said then that they had been “working on a name.”
“So we’ll have that as soon as we can…,” William said. “It’s the first time we’ve seen him really, so we’re having a proper chance to catch up.”
Many bets were placed as the public waited for the announcement. British bookmakers Ladbrokes had George and James as favorites Wednesday, followed by Alexander, Arthur, Louis and Henry.
The baby has a “good pair of lungs,” the prince told well-wishers Tuesday evening. “He’s got her looks, thankfully.”
They took turns holding little George, wrapped in a cream-colored blanket. The parents waved.
William said he’d already changed his first diaper.
“It’s very emotional. It’s such a special time,” Catherine said.
Third in line
The 8-pound, 6-ounce boy was born Monday afternoon. He’s third in line, behind Charles and William, to the British throne.
As well as ruling the United Kingdom, George Alexander Louis could one day be king of 15 other commonwealth countries that have the British monarch as head of state if none change their constitution in the meantime.
They include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Belize and Jamaica.
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The Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand is lit blue on Wednesday, July 24, to celebrate the birth of a baby boy to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. Catherine gave birth to the boy at 4:24 p.m. July 22. He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces. A name has not been announced for the child, who is third in line to the British throne.
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Phil Walter/Getty Images
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Members of the Honourable Artillery Company fire a salute at the Tower of London on Tuesday, July 23, to mark the birth of a son to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
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JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
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People gather outside Buckingham Palace in London on July 23 to read the notice announcing the birth of the royal baby. The news was placed in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on July 22.
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WILL OLIVER/AFP/Getty Images
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A man reads a copy of British tabloid The Sun, renamed "The Son," on July 23.
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Empty bottles of alcohol sit outside Buckingham Palace in London on July 23.
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WILL OLIVER/AFP/Getty Images
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Crew members of the British warship HMS Lancaster celebrate the birth of the royal baby on patrol in the Caribbean in a handout photo released July 23.
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MINISTRY OF DEFENCE/HOL JAY ALLEN/AFP/Getty Images
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A sand sculpture was created by sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik to celebrate the birth in Puri, India, on July 23.
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AP
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Crowds push forward to see the birth announcement on Monday, July 22.
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WILL OLIVER/AFP/Getty Images
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People clamor for their chance to see and photograph the birth announcement that was placed on a golden easel by the queen's press secretary on July 22.
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WILL OLIVER/AFP/Getty Images
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The London Eye Ferris wheel on the banks of the Thames is lit up in red, blue and white to mark the birth of the boy on July 22.
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Sang Tan/AP
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The fountains at Trafalgar Square are lit blue to signify the birth of a boy on July 22.
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NEIL HALL/Reuters/LANDOV
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Royal fans celebrate the announcement of the birth of a boy to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 22.
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Dave Hogan/Getty Image
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Hayley Simmonds, an employee at the British restaurant and grocery Tea & Sympathy, celebrates the birth on July 22 by hanging a sign in the store's window in New York.
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Karen Milne, left, of Scotland wears a mask of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as she and friends celebrate the royal birth at Ye Olde King's Head English Pub in Santa Monica, California, on July 22.
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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Image
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Revelers crowd against the railing of Buckingham Palace in London after an official notice proclaiming the birth was put on display on July 22.
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Sang Tan/AP
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Crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace on July 22 after the announcement of the birth.
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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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The queen's press secretary, Ailsa Anderson, left, and Badar Azim, a palace footman, place the official birth announcement on a golden easel in front of Buckingham Palace on July 22.
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Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace cheer as Anderson places the birth announcement in front of the palace on July 22.
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A town crier reads the announcement of the birth outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 22.
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ANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images
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Two of the gynecologists who attended to the duchess, Marcus Setchell, center, and Alan Farthing, right, leave the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital on July 22.
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Karwai Tang/WireImage
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Media gather outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 22 as they await news of the birth.
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ANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images
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Crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace in London as news of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's, labor arrives on July 22.
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A Buckingham Palace official on July 22 hands the birth announcement to a colleague in a car to be driven from St. Mary's Hospital in London to Buckingham Palace.
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Lefteris Pitarakis/A
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Police guard the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital in London as crowds gather and await news of the birth of the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on July 22.
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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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Royal supporters are interviewed by a television crew outside St. Mary's Hospital on July 22.
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Crowds gather behind a barricade outside St. Mary's Hospital as they wait for news of the birth on July 22.
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Chris Jackson/Getty Image
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Hospital staff look out over a gathering crowd at St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 22.
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Royal fan Teba Diatta stands outside St. Mary's Hospital with a cake decorated for the occasion on July 22.
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Royal supporter Margaret Tyler holds decorative balloons as she waits outside St. Mary's Hospital in London on Saturday, July 20.
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Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
On their way out of the hospital, the couple walked down the same steps where Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles gave the world its first look at Prince William 31 years ago.
William placed the teeny royal heir in a car seat in the back of a black sport utility vehicle, then got behind the wheel for the trip to their residence at Kensington Palace.
The grand apartment they will eventually move into within the palace, Apartment 1A, is still being refurbished, so William and Catherine have been living in a small cottage in the grounds.
The internal renovation work at Kensington Palace is due to be completed in the fall. The duke and duchess’ staff will also move into refurbished offices there, according to Buckingham Palace accounts released last month.
The late Diana moved into Kensington Palace after marrying Prince Charles in 1981. William and Harry were raised there.
When she died in 1997, mourners laid flowers and tributes outside the palace gates.
’Absolutely beautiful’
On Tuesday, London reverberated with the sound of cannon fire and peals of bells to mark the birth.
Shortly before the new baby’s departure from St. Mary’s, Prince Charles stopped by for a brief visit with his first grandchild, accompanied by his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. He told reporters it was “marvelous.”
And Catherine’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, visited earlier. As grandmothers tend to do, she described her grandbaby as “absolutely beautiful.”
She and her husband were “so thrilled” about being grandparents.
“It was so exciting. It was fantastic,” said Eliza Wells, one of the well-wishers gathered outside the hospital. “The crowd erupted, because everyone’s been waiting so long for it.”
William and Catherine “both seemed very relaxed, even with the press there and the crowd,” Wells said. “They just seemed like a normal couple.”
A normal life?
Royal commentators said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will try to give their son as regular an upbringing as possible.
But the intense media interest in the birth of the new prince highlights the challenge his parents face in trying to protect his privacy and maintain a degree of normalcy.
“This baby has two things stopping it from being normal,” historian Kate Williams said. “No. 1, it lives in a life of incredible wealth and privilege. … No. 2, it is an incredible celebrity, and we’ve seen this with the coverage.”
But Prince William loved that his mother tried to give him as normal a childhood as possible, including trips to the cinema and an amusement park, and sending him to a local private school as a boy. “And that’s what he wants for little baby Cambridge,” Williams offered.
Although the excitement over his birth is not universal, there’s no doubting the level of global interest in the prince.
On Monday, there were more than 19 million Facebook interactions related to the royal baby, according to the site.
His birth also took Twitter by storm.
CNN’s Matt Smith and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.
