Baby boy for Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter

The couple became parents on Saturday

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in California

(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter have become parents to a baby boy.

Hunter gave birth to the couple’s first child on Saturday. A spokesman: “Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are delighted to announce the arrival of their beautiful son.

“We would kindly ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy during these next few precious weeks."

The couple first met when they shot the film Burlesque Fairytales in 2009. They quietly announced their engagement in November 2014 by putting a notice in The Times newspaper and married on the Isle of Wight in February.

Cumberbatch, 38, is well-known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series, Sherlock, and Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. Last week he was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the performing arts and charity.

Hunter, 37, is a theatre and opera director, having also performed in film Vanity Fair and television series Midsomer Murders.