Royal baby: world's media descend on London hospital as wait begins

Presenters, cameramen, technicians and producers from all over the world have been gradually congregating at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital Paddington to await the royal birth.

Good filming positions outside building are highly-prized; pad-locked ladders and branded tape mark the territory of each broadcaster or photographer.

But with potentially hours, days, even weeks until the Duchess of Cambridge arrives to give birth, what do the media do to fill their time?

Kris Burzynski, a cameraman for AP, says that he and his fellow journalists have been reading, chatting and watching TV, but they have also been putting their creative talents to good use.

^{Steppladders belonging to photographers are set up on the pavement opposite the entrance to the The Lindo Wing where the Duchess of Cambridge will give birth at St Mary's Hospital in London (Getty)}

He points to a colourful royal sweepstake chart hanging on a concrete pillar at the back of the media pen for bets on the day the baby arrives.

"I put my money on the morning of the 16th and for it to be a boy," Mr Burzynski says.

At the moment the atmosphere in the press area is friendly and relaxed but as Mike Amor from Australia's Seven Network says, "once it gets closer to the time, we might get more protective of the space that we've set aside for ourselves."

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For many, these quiet moments are being savoured because they know that when the call comes that the Duchess has gone into labour they will be working "round the clock."

"I'll be very bleary eyed indeed," says Mr Amor.