YOU might have heard about a wee baby being born at the weekend.

Well, there were plenty births happening, but two were making headlines. And they are about as far apart socially and economically as you can get.

The first is a princess. Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born into immeasurable privilege as daughter to William and Kate.

She was met by the world's media and already has pull-outs and souvenirs dedicated to her existence.

But baby number two has a far more remarkable story behind her.

Francesca Marina was born aboard an Italian navy vessel after her mother became one of about 6800 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days.

The newborn doesn't know it yet, but at just days old, she has already been through more than most of us will experience in a lifetime.

Weighing just over 6.5lb, Francesca was delivered on board the navy's Bettica ship which was carrying 654 migrants, many of them refugees fleeing war.

Mum and daughter are said to be doing well after the rescue by the Italian Marina Militare - who the girl was named after - and were being taken to hospital to recover.

But what caused the woman to be on a sinking boat in the Med? We don't know much about the mum except that she was Nigerian and heavily pregnant when she fled Libya.

She is one of thousands of people to risk their lives to cross into Europe in recent months in the hope of finding safety.

My heart melted when I saw the photo of Francesca - nicknamed "Bambini Reali", which means both 'royal' and 'real' baby in Italian - wrapped in a light pink blanket.

Through my job at the Evening Times I do a lot of work with refugees in Scotland and I hear horrendous stories.

Recently I spoke to asylum seekers who had come on that same journey as Francesca and her mum.

Among them was a Sudanese woman called Amila, whose dad was killed in war in Darfur. After she escaped to Libya, her mum was killed by NATO rockets.

Amila was arrested and abused by Libyan authorities and is still haunted by the trauma.

She spent months saving up to pay people smugglers to take her to Europe. The risk of drowning was worth it, she said, because being in Libya was a fate worse than death.

She spent five days at sea as the boat around them - which the refugees had built themselves - disintegrated.

Off the coast of Italy they were found by rescue boats, however, as in many cases, half of the occupants died during the operation.

Amila is now in Glasgow waiting to hear if she can stay and try and build a life here, like many others in a similar position.

Francesca is a reminder of hope in a desperate situation and that's why she's the 'royal' baby we should all be talking about.