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SHE gave birth to her second child in April but now Katherine Jenkins is swapping nappies for a microphone as she makes a musical comeback.

And the Welsh opera star joked: “It’s nice to be out of my pyjamas.”

Katherine, 38, sang at the Classic BRIT Awards in the summer, just seven weeks after the birth of her son Xander. She and her American film-maker and artist husband Andrew Levitas also have a threeyear-old daughter, Aaliyah Reign.

Katherine is now preparing for the release next month of a new album, two years after her 11th record, Celebration, which reached No7. She has been doing a few gigs since the summer, and today is in Heerlen in the Netherlands.

She said: “I’m trying to take things gradually.

“But there’s nothing more special than being able to take the baby into the studio and I am definitely inspired by having him in my life.

“I love being a mum, it’s just the best thing in the world. Having two is obviously double the trouble. But they’re just both so adorable and I’m lucky that I can be at home with them some days and then bring them with me to the studio or when I did the Classic BRIT Awards.”

Katherine has been used to criticism. First, it was her classical crossover songs, which purists hated. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa said her ilk were “the new fakes”, despite the fact they brought a dusty genre thousands of new fans.

When she admitted taking drugs, critics said she was trying to be edgy. When she ran the London Marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support to raise money in memory of her dad, who died of lung cancer when she was 15, many ridiculed her for wearing sunglasses, diamond earrings and lip gloss.

She was