William visits Kate in hospital as rumours swirl of royal twins

AFP/London

Prince William visited his pregnant wife Kate in hospital yesterday where she spent a second day being treated for acute morning sickness, as congratulations poured in from around the world.

The announcement on Monday that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 30, are expecting their first child ended feverish speculation about a new royal heir that began immediately after their lavish wedding in April 2011.

The baby will be third in line to the throne and will keep this position regardless of whether it is a girl or a boy, after a historic agreement among the 16 Commonwealth realms last year to end the practice of male primogeniture.

William, the second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, was at his wife’s bedside at the private King Edward VII Hospital in central London following her admission on Monday afternoon, before leaving at 8:20pm.

Wearing a purple jumper over a shirt and jeans, he returned again yesterday at about 11:30am (1130 GMT) and rushed inside although, like the night before, he did not acknowledge the waiting media.

St James’s Palace said Kate was still at the “very early stages” of pregnancy - likely less than 12 weeks - but it is thought the news was released because her admission to hospital would have made her condition public.

Kate has hyperemesis gravidarum, a very acute form of morning sickness which affects about one in 200 pregnant women, according to the state-funded National Health Service.

Hospitalisation is needed in severe cases to treat dehydration with intravenous fluids for a few days, as it is impossible to keep fluids down.

Kate is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will then require a period of rest, a palace spokeswoman said, adding that her public engagements have been cancelled for the next week.

Diana ‘among favourites for baby name’

Bookmakers reckon Prince William and his wife Catherine will name their baby after a close relative, with his late mother Diana among the early front-runners. Betting chains were offering odds on a whole range of markets, from the baby’s name to its sex, weight, godparents, hair colour and even the time and day of birth. The baby will be third in line to inherit the throne, meaning a King John II or Queen Anne II could be on the cards. The William Hill firm’s early favourites are Frances and John at 9/1, with Charles, George and Victoria 10/1, followed by Anne, Diana, Philip, Richard and Spencer at 12/1 and Henry, Mary and Sarah at 14/1. “We’re pretty confident they’re going to stay with a traditional name from within the family,” a Paddy Power spokesman said. “We think that given, let’s face it, they’re not Lady Gaga but neither are they the generation of royals that went before them, they might not go too far off the wall.”