And so the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her third child, the fifth in line to the British throne, with the official announcement bellowed to the world by the official town crier.

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But there was a slight problem: the crier, Tony Appleton from Chelmsford, actually has nothing to do with Kensington Palace or the royal family.

Despite Appleton showing up to every major royal announcement since 2013, often drawing cheers and dozens of press photographers, he is not actually part of the official process for announcing a royal birth.

However, that didn't stop US broadcaster CBS leading their coverage with footage of Appleton delivering the "official proclamation" of the royal birth. The video has since been removed from Twitter, but the video below shows how CBS This Morning announced the news.

Many people on twitter were ready to point out the mistake…

Although others said it’s exactly the sort of thing us Brits might do…

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So, all in all, it's a fair mistake to make. But as long as you remember that beefeaters eat beef exclusively and that the Black Rod is only an inanimate black carbon rod then we'll let you off.

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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