Eva shares royal birthday

The Prince of Cambridge and Eva Jean Collins don't have much in common.

They were born on opposite sides of the world - one at St Mary's Hospital in London, the other at Wanganui Hospital. One will live a life of privilege and eventually become king, the other will be an ordinary New Zealand citizen.

But the newborn prince, as yet unnamed, and little Eva do have one thing in common. They were born on the same day.

Eva's appearance, at 7.30pm on July 22, was a surprise to her parents, Nicola Gray and Kerry Collins, as she wasn't due for another two weeks.

"I knew that Kate was due at roughly the same time as me but I never would have thought they'd be born on the same day, because Eva wasn't supposed to be here until August," Ms Gray said.

Eva was certainly in a hurry to arrive. Ms Gray was in labour for only three hours, and she just made it to the hospital in time for her second daughter to be born.

Big sister Victoria, 10, was delighted with the new arrival: "She's pretty cool."

Eva weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was healthy, although weighing considerably less than the Prince who was 8lbs 6oz.

Ms Gray said Eva also shared her birthday with her maternal grandmother.

"My nana, who is no longer with us, was right into the royals and she would have been thrilled to know her great-granddaughter shares a birthday with a prince," Ms Gray said.

She said she would make sure her daughter knew of her connection to the prince, once she was old enough to understand.

"I'm definitely not royal but I think Eva probably is," said Ms Gray with a smile, as she cuddled her newborn.

Statistics New Zealand said about 167 New Zealanders would have been born on the same day as the Prince of Cambridge.