Announcing Kate's Pregnancy

UPDATE: Just days after this was posted, St. James's Palace, HQ of The Prince of Wales, announced that Kate is in the early stages of pregnancy. The announcement was unusually early in first trimester, but necessary because Kate had to be hospitalized for hyperemesis gravidarum, a very acute and dangerous form of morning sickness. Prince William has been at her side daily. Best wishes to the little family.
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Based on the first pregnancy's of other recent royal brides (see my earlier post, Kate Middleton's First Baby), it may not be long now until we get an announcement that The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant. Although some royal couples have apparently struggled with fertility and pregnancy issues (notably the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan and the Wessexes in England), everyone seems fairly certain that William and Kate will produce children at any moment.

The average wait for the other heirs of this generation has been 21 months after the royal wedding, ranging from 17 months in Denmark and Spain to 29 months in Norway.  to deliver at the 21-month-mark, Kate would need to have a baby in January 2013. Since she is clearly not six or seven months pregnant at this time, we can only surmise that the wait will be longer.

However, when Prince William was recently presented by a well-wisher with some baby clothes, he said he would keep it, sparking rumors once again and setting eagle eyes all over the world looking for Kate's potential baby bump.

When an announcement comes, I suspect it will be made on a weekday morning before the couple are scheduled to make a joint public appearance. Also, the announcement is likely to come from Prince Charles' office at Clarence House rather than Buckingham Palace, since Prince William is not the current heir to the throne. finally, I would not be surprised if Kate withdraws from the scene for a few weeks after the announcement in the hopes that the frenzy will die down some before she has to face the public and media again. After all, starting a family is a very personal business, and William has often voiced his desire not to have his family harrassed by prying eyes.

So, if Kate is pregnant now, I would not be surprised by a pre-Christmas announcement. In the meantime, here is some ITN footage from the day Princess Diana's first pregnancy was announced to the world.