Robbie Williams with his wife Ayda Field, who has given birth to a baby girl, Theodora Rose. File picture: Dave Thompson/PA Wire

Famous friends have been tweeting to congratulate singer Robbie Williams, whose wife Ayda Field gave birth to their baby girl yesterday.

Williams, 38, broke the news on Twitter, telling fans he had a baby girl.

Writing on the site, the Take That singer announced the name of his baby, before directing people to his blog, where he wrote: “Praise be, it’s Theodora Rose Williams, affectionately known as Teddy..... Born 3.33pm on 18.9.12, 7Ibs 4OZ.

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

Take That 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 wife, and American actress, recently announced that they had chosen a traditional name for their daughter, adding there was going to be “No mad celebrity baby name”.

He said: “I do have a sort of celebrity name but it’s not Appleesque. It’s a very solid, old-school name.”

Last week Williams expressed concern that he may miss the London birth while touring in other parts of the UK but said he had a private jet on standby.

He said: “There’s a plane on standby and if I get that phone call I’ve got to go.”

Williams has said that 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 were “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 have been in a relationship for five years and married two years ago. Theodora is their first child.