When Joanna Ahmed and her son Isaaq headed to St Mary’s Hospital to catch a glimpse of our new prince, the mum-of-two assumed all eyes would be on the royal baby.

Instead the pair became the unlikely focus of the world’s media, who were gathered in Paddington yesterday to see Kate and William’s son for the first time.

Joanna, of Barleyfield Close, Chadwell Heath, explained: “Isaaq, who is 17 months, and I were both wearing gold paper crowns, and his sling and clothes were red, blue and white, plus he was waving a Union Jack.

“The media seemed to really like this and lots of them wanted to talk to me and take pictures. I ended up on the BBC, in Hello! online and even chatted to journalists from Poland and Japan. They asked me things like what I thought of the royal birth and whether I thought William and Kate understood the pressures normal parents go through.

“Some-one actually had to help me get away in the end as we were getting so much attention. It all felt a bit strange!”

Amidst the media spotlight, Joanna did get a chance to spot the new arrival.

“I managed to see the baby, which was exciting,” she said. “Kate looked absolutely amazing. I can’t believe she’d given birth the day before. I certainly didn’t look like that so soon after.”

“I’ve heard they’re not going to have a full-time nanny,” the 26-year-old added. “It seems like they’ll be more hands-on, modern parents, which is great.”

Joanna, a breast-feeding peer support worker in Barking and Dagenham, also paid a visit to Buckingham Palace to see the easel displaying a formal bulletin confirming the royal birth.