A lookalike of Prince Harry takes part in a publicity stunt in front of the door to the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, where Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth.
DPA/London
The royal family is hoping that the duke and duchess of Cambridge’s baby will be born by the end of this week, the duke’s stepmother said.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re all waiting at the end of a telephone,” said Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, as she chatted while visiting a Cornish children’s hospital.
“I hope by the end of the week he or she will be there,” said the duchess, who is Prince Charles’ second wife.
The remarks were picked up on camera by ITV news and widely reported yesterday. Speculation over Kate and William’s baby has reached a fever pitch in Britain as the rumoured due date, which was Saturday, came and went.
Buckingham Palace has steadfastly refused to confirm a date.
Reporters, photographers and cameramen have been camped for two weeks outside St Mary’s Hospital in central London, where Kate was expected to give birth.
The duchess reportedly left the couple’s home in Kensington Palace at the weekend to spend time at her parents’ home in Bucklebury, a village in the county of Berkshire, as temperatures soared above 30 degrees.
Kate’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has previously said the duchess would spend the first six weeks after the birth there, where she would be looked after by her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.
In another interview published yesterday, Goldsmith said he suspected the baby, which will be third in line to the throne after Prince Charles and its father, Prince William, would be a girl.
“But, of course, I don’t know that for fact,” he told the Daily Mirror. “I believe Kate and William have kept the sex of their child a secret to everyone but themselves.”