Madonna & Guy, David Bowie & Iman, and Prince Pavlos Of Greece All Get the Nappy Habit

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Michael Douglas and his fiancee Catherine Zeta Jones were thrilled to be parents of Dylan Michael Douglas, came, like buses, another three.

First off the blocks was Madonna, who gave birth to 5lb 9oz Rocco Ritchie, her son with British film director Guy Ritchie, three weeks early. The singer is reported to have been resting at her Hollywood home when she was woken with crippling abdominal pains and haemorrhaging. Guy carried her to their car and drove to the nearest hospital, the Cedars-Sinai in LA, where it was revealed that she had suffered a detached placenta, threatening the baby's oxygen supply. There was no time to lose and an emergency Caesarean was performed.

"There were some minor complications, but never was Madonna or her son in any sort of life threatening situation," said the star's spokeswoman.

Last week saw a royal baby born in New York. The parents are Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and his wife Marie-Chantal, who were celebrating the birth of their son Achileas Andreas, a brother to four-year-old Maria-Olympia and Constantine Alexios, one. "Children are adorable," said the Prince, a banker in the city. "My wife and I think our role as parents is so important. We have always dreamt of having a big family."

New York was the setting for another royal baby, this time to rock royalty. David Bowie and Iman were overjoyed at the arrival of their long-awaited first child, Alexandria Zahra Jones. "Iman has been in very good health, and so has the baby," said a friend of the couple's. "David was not able to stop talking about it. He is over the moon."

Alexandria means "defender of mankind," while Zahra is Arabic for flower. Jones is, of cours, rock star Bowie's real surname