Then, on Monday, the world’s media started assembling outside the Lindo Wing
of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where Kate will give birth. A notice by
the main entrance of St Mary’s appeared this week, block-booking four
parking spaces for the entire month for an unnamed “event”. The hospital’s
taxi rank has been suspended, too — although only until July 15.
Add to that the huge speculation after Kate failed to accompany William to the
recent society wedding of Lady Melissa Percy and Thomas van Straubenzee in
Alnwick, Northumberland and it’s little wonder that bookmaker Paddy Power
has slashed odds on a birth this week from 8-1 to 4-1. Indeed, Twitter was
abuzz with rumours that the Duchess had bypassed the press pack and was
already in labour last night. “The royal waters have broken,” wrote one
user. “Good sources tell me that Kate Middleton is currently in labour,”
said another.
So, could the wait for Baby Kate end sooner than we think? St James’s Palace
revealed last month that the Duchess intends to give birth naturally, rather
than opting for an elective Caesarean, which makes pinpointing the due date
somewhat difficult. Royal watchers have also referenced the popular notion
that first-time mothers often give birth late. “The due date is pretty
irrelevant,” says royal biographer Penny Junor. “Most first babies are a
couple of weeks late — but say that to some mothers and they’ll say they had
theirs early.”
Camera crews, photographers and royal reporters from across the world continue
to flock to St Mary’s — so do they know something we don’t? Yesterday, two
television crews — Associated Press and American network NBC — were seen
camped outside the hospital. Sky, BBC and others are expected to set up on
Monday.
Those present have marked out their spaces on the pavement using masking tape
— spots for around 160 photographers and television crews have been claimed
so far. Photographers say some US networks have hired 24/7 security guards
to secure their camera positions and others are rumoured to have booked
taxis to park permanently in the spaces they want for their satellite
trucks.
Max Foster, the royal correspondent for CNN, says: “The difficulty in
broadcast terms is that you don’t have the same visual element that you did
for the royal wedding, so we’re planning for multiple broadcast positions —
outside the hospital, outside Buckingham Palace — to capture those key
moments.”
Bookies, too, are gearing up for an early date. Paddy Power has an
unprecedented 18-year accumulator bet on the royal baby, while William Hill
has odds of 16-1 on today as the birth date. Around the world, royal
watchers are preparing, too.
Last week, the Finnish government sent a maternity package containing
clothing, towels and toys to Kensington Palace. In its attempt to report the
news first, the American magazine Life & Style even printed the headline
“Kate’s Dramatic Delivery” on the front of its July 8 issue, out this week.
“Her family and a security team rush to the hospital — but William’s torn
from his wife’s side,” reads an ill-judged teaser.
William will not be taking any time off from his duties at RAF Valley on
Anglesey before the birth (so no clues about the due date there). The RAF
has stressed that he will be treated the same as any other pilot whose wife
is expecting: they operate a “rolling contingency” plan, arranging shift
patterns so expectant fathers aren’t flying on or around the due date. Sqn
Leader Dave Webster, spokesman for RAF Valley, says: “If possible, we
wouldn’t put someone in the situation where they are flying at the time they
are expecting their wife to give birth, as it would be a distraction to them
and their crew. If the baby comes early we can pull people in at short
notice to cover.”
When Kate does go into labour, it has been suggested that William will have a
helicopter on standby to take him to London. St Mary’s doesn’t have a
helipad but Kensington Palace is less than a mile away, and it is probable
that William would land in Perk’s Field, a space behind the palace that the
royal household rents out as a helipad.
However, royal aides say he may make the journey by road. “The journey takes
four to five hours, and it goes against all instinct to sit around waiting
for a helicopter for an hour and a half when you could jump in a car and
make headway.”
Should William not make it to the Lindo Wing in time, both Carole and Pippa
Middleton are reported to be on standby to attend the birth. Carole has been
knitting clothes for her grandchild, while Pippa is staying in London to be
near her sister.
The Duchess has been dividing her time between Kensington Palace and her
parents’ home in Berkshire, where the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading
has been named as a contingency location for the birth should she go into
early labour.
While there isn’t an official diktat that the Duke and Duchess’s staff can’t
take leave during July, none of them, including Rebecca Deacon, Kate’s
private secretary, has done so, because there was an “unwritten
understanding” that they would work throughout the month.
Souvenir makers are, of course, on high alert to meet demand in blue or pink
as soon as the baby is born. “We are waiting to see if it’s a girl or a boy,
and also awaiting the name which we will print on a tea towel,” says Heather
Harvey, of Ulster Weavers, which has a Royal Warrant for providing kitchen
textiles to the Queen. “As soon as we hear the news, we will instruct
printing to go ahead.”
What the next few days — or indeed weeks — hold for the Duke and Duchess, only
they and a few close family members know. William, like his mother, has
always fended off press intrusion into his personal life, but whether this
extends to copying Diana’s royal baby ruse, only time will tell.
“Diana was just 20 when she had William so she probably appreciated any
officially encouraged uncertainty about her due date,” says Patrick Jephson,
a former chief of staff to the Princess of Wales. “The arrival of first
babies is famously unpredictable, so anything that takes pressure off the
parents is welcome.”
But as ever bigger crowds amass outside the hospital, Penny Junor says the
game may be up. “The only point in trying to get a bit of privacy is if you
can steal a march on everyone by going into labour long before anyone’s
expecting it. There is no way she is going to be able to sneak into the
Lindo Wing unnoticed. But maybe the ruse is that she’s not going to have it
at St Mary’s…” she adds.
“I’d be surprised if Kate were playing games, but who knows?”
Source:
http://in-the-news.net/duchess-of-cambridge-are-we-expecting-an-early-royal-birth-telegraph-co-uk/