Don’t be so precious about your baby, Wills!

THE imminent arrival of William and Kate’s second child will be a rare ray of hope — and a blessed relief from the interminable tedium of this stage-managed election campaign.

We do not know the due date, but it could be as early as this weekend. William has already started his paternity leave — all six weeks of it.

And this time round he’s being even more protective of his wife — as well as highly prescriptive about the way the birth should be reported.

In an attempt to avoid what became known as ‘The Great Kate Wait’ at St Mary’s in Paddington in the summer of 2013 — when cameras surrounded the hospital for days before George’s birth — the media has been banned until after the Duchess is admitted.

And no announcement about the baby will be made until the day after the birth. While one understands the future king’s desire for privacy and his determination to have the normal family life he is denied as a royal, isn’t this all going a bit far?

For William’s is not an ordinary family. The new baby, however normal his parents want the birth to be, will be an heir to the throne. The risk is that, by being so picky about the way the birth is treated, William comes across as prickly and self-indulgent.

True, it cannot be easy for him to balance his public duty with a desire for the kind of privacy that most families enjoy. But he does not help himself. The majority of dads can only dream of six weeks’ paternity leave — many are lucky if they get two.

As for Kate, her last public appearance was on March 27, a month ago. And while we sympathise with her over her difficult pregnancy — she’s said to be ‘ on her knees with exhaustion’ — many women work until two weeks before their due date.

AND it’s not as if she isn’t going to have plenty of help. Besides her husband, her mother Carole is moving in to join the livein nanny, the night nurse for the new baby and the other staff on hand to cater to the family’s every need.

Meanwhile, the couple won’t even be staying in the Kensington apartment we paid £4.5 million to refurbish, but are retiring to the privacy of their country mansion, Amner Hall.

It’s all very well for William and Kate to hanker after a normal family life. But they can’t have it both ways — they can’t bask in royal privilege, while failing to fulfil their royal duties.