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By Fraser McAlpine | Posted on June 15th, 2015

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter (Pic: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

It has not been a bad weekend for Benedict Cumberbatch, all told. For the world to find out that he’s been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list on the day before his first child is born is remarkably good timing.

And as one might expect at such a personal family moment, they’re keeping away from the prying eyes of the press, issuing a brief statement via Benedict’s representative that simply says: “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.”

Which seems fair enough, really. Luckily there are other things to talk about, such as the cast list for Lyndsey Turner‘s production of

, in which Benedict takes the title role and begins rehearsals today (assuming he’s getting enough sleep to concentrate, of course).

star Ciarán Hinds, with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Siân Brooke as Ophelia and Anastasia Hille (

) appears as Polonius, Leo Bill (The Living and the Dead) is Horatio, Matthew Steer (

“Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”) is Guildenstern, with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (

The first performances begin on August 5, and the play’s official opening night is on August 25, with a run that concludes on October 31.

will also be broadcast to cinemas worldwide on October 15, as part of National Theatre Live.

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Tagged: Benedict Cumberbatch, Hamlet, Shakespeare, Shakespeare Adaptations, Sophie Hunter

Fraser has been writing and broadcasting about music and popular culture for over 15 years, first at the Top of the Pops website, and most recently for the NME, Guardian and MSN. He also wrote BBC Radio 1\'s Chart Blog and reviews albums for BBC Radio 2. He is Anglophenia\'s current resident Brit, blogging about British slang and running around the Mall taking snaps of the crowd at the Royal Wedding, as well as reigniting a childhood passion for classic Doctor Who and cramming as much music in as he can manage. Fraser invites you to join him on Twitter: @csi_popmusic

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