Baby girl for Robbie Williams

Congratulations have flooded in for pop singer Robbie Williams after his wife, Ayda Field, gave birth to their daughter yesterday.

The 38-year-old Take That star wrote on his blog: "Praise be, it's Theodora Rose Williams, affectionately known as Teddy... Born 3.33pm on 18.9.12, 7lb 4oz.

"Baby, Mummy and Daddy are all rockin... Thank you for your best wishes XXXX."

Bandmate Gary Barlow tweeted: "Massive congrats Rob and Ayda. So happy for you", and former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating also sent his congratulations.

Williams is the fourth member of Take That to become a father after Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald.

Singer and actor Jonathan Wilkes, who is a long-standing friend of Williams, said: "Right bed time !!! Got a big day Tommrow I'm meeting a new little lady !! X".

The couple also received congratulations from DJ Chris Moyles and children's food guru Annabel Karmel, who tweeted: "Congratulations robbiewilliams and Ayda. Welcome to the world baby Theodora Rose."

Williams and his US actress wife recently announced they had chosen a traditional name for their daughter, adding that there was going to be "no mad celebrity baby name".

He said: "I do have a sort of celebrity name but it's not Apple-esque. It's a very solid, old-school name."

The singer also expressed concern last week that he may miss the London birth while touring in other parts of the UK but said he had a private jet on stand-by.

He said: "There's a plane on stand-by and if I get that phone call I've got to go."

Williams has said he would prefer his child to grow up in the UK instead of Los Angeles, where the couple currently live.

He described children educated in LA schools as having "a massive sense of entitlement" and that they are "dull and dumb".

"I don't want to educate our baby in LA because I would much prefer her to have English sensibilities.

"I want the baby to have an English passport. We're still figuring out exactly whereabouts the baby is going to be brought up.

"I had a conversation with the wife last night about where we're going to end up but we still don't know."

Williams and Field, a Turkish-American, have been in a relationship for five years.

Theodora is the first child for the couple, who married two years ago.

Williams rose to fame in the 1990s with Take That but has had more commercial success as a solo artist, becoming one of UK best- selling singers.

He has battled mental illness and alcoholism, has a strong interest in UFOs and last week launched his new clothing line in Dublin.

PA