Could Kate be expecting twins?
Speculation high after Kate’s illness forces announcement
COULD the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge be expecting twins? That is the big question after the royal couple were forced to go public with their pregnancy news much earlier than intended when 30-year-old Catherine was admitted to hospital with a rare form of severe morning sickness which could indicate a multiple birth.
The Duchess, who found out last month she was expecting, has not yet reached the 12-week stage of her pregnancy, when couples usually share their news.
She was taken ill while staying with her parents in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and drove with her husband to the King Edward VII Hospital in London, where she is expected to remain for several days.
The duchess is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that is more often experienced by women expecting twins.
Mothers-to-be who suffer from the condition are three times more likely to have a multiple birth than other women.
Should the duchess have twins, the firstborn will become monarch.
The duke spent Monday at his wife’s bedside. He was seen leaving the hospital at 8.20pm and is expected to be granted compassionate leave from his RAF search and rescue duties. The duchess’s illness prompted a scramble to tell members of the royal family about the pregnancy before news of her arrival at hospital leaked out.
Royal aides said the decision to go public “was very much driven by the duke and duchess”, who were aware that it would be impossible to keep the news a secret in the age of Twitter. “It’s a very hard thing to go public at such an early stage, but they wanted to be open with people as much as possible,” an aide said.
The baby will become the third in line to the throne, ahead of Prince Harry, regardless of whether it is a girl or boy. The ancient rule of royal primogeniture, which gave males precedence, was scrapped last year.
The queen, the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, who was contacted in Afghanistan, were all told the news on Monday, before St James’s Palace made the announcement at 4.01pm.
The announcement was followed 10 minutes later by a tweet from Clarence House, the first time a royal pregnancy has been confirmed on Twitter.
The duchess’s illness, which affects fewer than four in every 1 000 pregnant women, causes severe vomiting and can lead to dehydration. It is treated by giving fluids intravenously and by anti-sickness tablets, but can last for months.
The duchess is reportedly being treated by Marcus Setchell, the former gynaecologist to the queen, who delivered the Countess of Wessex’s two children as well as Leo Blair, son of the former prime minister.
David Cameron, who was handed a note to tell him the news during a policy meeting in Downing Street and who was among the first to tweet his congratulations, said: “It’s absolutely wonderful news, and I’m delighted for them and I’m sure they will make absolutely brilliant parents.”
The Prime Minister admitted that after he received the note “I found it quite difficult to keep it to myself”.
President Barack Obama was among the world leaders to send their congratulations, while the Archbishop of Canterbury, who married the couple on April 29 last year, said: “The whole nation will want to join in celebrating this wonderful news.”
Earl Spencer, the Duke’s uncle, said: “It is wonderful news. I am thrilled for them both.”
St James’s Palace said the baby would be given the title of prince or princess. – The Daily Telegraph