Samantha Cameron and new baby Florence give media the slip

David Cameron's wife Samantha and new baby Florence Rose Endellion evaded the cameras as they left hospital yesterday.

Mrs Cameron had been at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro since giving birth by Caesarean section on Tuesday.

They left the hospital's maternity wing by a back door and were driven away in a people carrier with blacked-out windows about midday.

Waiting reporters, photographers and television crews failed to get a glimpse of the Prime Minister's wife and baby

The baby, born weighing 6lb 1oz, was due next month, but caught the family by surprise while on holiday in Cornwall.

Her middle name, Endellion, refers to the village of St Endellion on the Cornish coast, near where the family were staying.

The couple's elder children, Nancy and four-year-old Arthur Elwen, four, visited their sister while she was in hospital. Mr and Mrs Cameron's other son, Ivan, died aged six last year.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister, Samantha, and Florence have all left hospital. Mother and baby are doing well and now look forward to spending the rest of their holiday in Cornwall with family and friends."

Mr Cameron was due back at No 10 next week following his two-week holiday, but now plans to take paternity leave.