The ‘Kate Effect’ likely a boon for baby boutiques

LON dON • Her magic touch has boosted the fortunes of a string of high-street fashion shops, a children’s hospice charity and even the Scouts.

Now a children’s furniture shop is hoping it will benefit from the “Kate Effect” after the duchess of Cambridge was spotted buying a Moses basket for her future child there.

The duchess was seen with her mother, Carole Middleton, buying a white Moses basket for the future King or Queen of England at Blue Almonds, an upmarket boutique in London.

Last week a Topshop polka dot dress the duchess wore during an appearance at the Harry Potter studios saw the dress sell out in an hour.

Previously, she has boosted the sales of such fashion labels as reiss, increasing its fortune by £ 5-million after appearing in its clothes, and Burberry, after a coat she wore sold out within a day.

Since the duchess became a volunteer Scout leader last year, membership of the organization has swelled by more than 10,000. When she wore a £10 bracelet showing her support of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, the charity sold 1,000 of them in a matter of months.

With a new baby on the way, the “Kate Effect” shows no sign of stopping.

Izabela Minkiewicz, the owner of Blue Almonds boutique, confirmed the duchess and Mrs. Middleton had visited the shop, close to Sloane Square.

recent reports of the duchess’ latest purchase of a Bugaboo buggy in pale blue has encouraged rumours that the royal couple could be expecting a boy.

Prince William has confirmed he will leave the rAF valley Search and rescue Force this year. Although his three-year tour of duty as a search and rescue pilot is not due to end until September, he is expected to leave in the summer before the duchess gives birth in July.

It is not yet clear whether he will take up other duties in the Armed Forces, but an announcement is expected in the next month about his future career. One option is that he will leave the rAF to take up a job in Norfolk or London to spend time with his wife and baby.

The change will see the couple move from their secluded home in Anglesey, where they have been since their marriage. They are expected to divide their time between Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall, the Georgian mansion on the Queen’s Sandringham estate.

It has been reported that the duchess, 31, will break with tradition and spend the first six weeks after the birth at the home of her parents in Bucklebury in Buckinghamshire. She may also further depart from royal tradition by choosing to give birth at the royal Berkshire Hospital, which is close to her parents’ home, rather than in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where the duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry were born.