A spring in Kate’s step ... baby is due in April
THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge confirmed yesterday that their third child is due in April.
The couple, both 35, announced the month the baby is due in a short statement traditionally issued by the Palace after the 12-week scan.
It means that Kate, who has been suffering from the severe morning sickness hyperemesis gravidarum, has almost certainly seen an ultrasound image of her baby.
She is thought to be a little past the 12-week stage.
It is likely the baby, who will be fifth in line to the throne and knock Prince Harry down to sixth place, is due in the last couple of weeks of April.
Kate’s extreme morning sickness, which can cause vomiting up to 60 times a day, can kick in as early as four weeks but often starts around the six or seven-week mark.
It can last throughout pregnancy but often settles down at 20 weeks.
Soon after the baby news emerged on September 4 William revealed that “not much sleep” was being had at their Kensington Palace home.
He said then: “We need Catherine to get over this first bit and then we can start celebrating. It’s always a bit anxious to start with, but she’s well.”
The Duchess, who is already feeling better but is not fully recovered, has made two public appearances in the last week and even danced with Paddington Bear in London on Monday.
But her illness has forced the couple to reshuffle plans to tour Scandinavia at the end of next month.
They had been due to make a four or five-day visit to Norway, Sweden and Finland.
But now William will go alone to Finland, to mark the centenary of its independence, while he and Kate will visit Norway and Sweden in 2018. Dates to note for when the new prince or princess might arrive include the Queen’s 92nd birthday on April 21, William and Kate’s seventh wedding anniversary on April 29 or Princess Charlotte’s third birthday on May 2.
Bookies have made Alice and Arthur the hot favourites for names.
Kate was resting at home yesterday but William met serving SAS soldiers and veterans at a ceremony to dedicate a £1million memorial to the regiment inside Hereford Cathedral.