A statement regarding the Royal Baby

A statement regarding the Royal Baby.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a daughter in July.

“Their Royal Highnesses wish to announce the sex of the royal baby in the hopes that it will quell speculation surrounding The Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy.” A spokesperson has confirmed.

“They are over the moon,” a pal confirms. “Carole is already unpacking Kate and Pippa’s babygros!”

“Kate has known for some time,” a source reveals, “When she visited Grimsby and the woman in the crowd asked about a daughter, Kate worried that she had given the game away.”

According to a royal source, when Camilla heard the news, she immediately sent out a staff member to buy pink wool. The Queen and The Prince of Wales are said to be delighted. ‘Britain has a great history of Queens regnant and the arrival of a girl is a historic event given the changes to the succession rules.’

A spokesperson would not confirm whether Diana would be amongst the baby’s names.

“They will reveal her names in due course.”

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!

The Royal Collection Ka-Chings in on Baby Cambridge

The Middleton’s have been accused of cashing in on the royal baby with their line of Prince/Princess party supplies. Various websites offer royal baby items of varying degrees of quality and now the Royal Collection is unabashedly cashing in on Baby Cambridge. A first for the royal collection, which has never created a line of items to celebrate royal births.

“An official range to celebrate the birth of a future monarch would be made, but not until after the event,” confirms a spokesman.

Yes, why miss out? If you can’t beat them, join them!

While Party Pieces has the party supplies covered for royal baby, the Royal Collection’s range will be more sedate with commemorative plates, cups, tea-pots, bowls, possibly even fragrances, teddy bears and cute onesies while they’re at it.

The sales of these items will go towards ‘the upkeep of the collection of art treasures and exhibitions’ Which apparently makes it OK for them, but when the Middletons do so they get flak for it.

Kate visits the scouts

In January 2012 it was announced that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, had become a volunteer of the Scouting Association. Although it is listed under her patronages on her official website, she is neither a patron nor president. The Queen is honorary Patron of Scouts UK and the Duke of Kent is honorary president.

Kate was part of the Brownies as a child and she has reportedly been an active volunteer with the Scout Association behind the scenes, volunteering her time privately with groups in North Wales and elsewhere. She has been seen on a few public occasions demonstrating scouting skills. During a 2012 visit to Vernon Park, Nottingham, she assisted, in skirt and heels, with putting up a tent during a scouting demonstration. In July 2012 she hosted an outdoor scouting event – beach barbecue and fishing lesson in Anglesey, Wales.

This is her most high profile engagement for the Scouts. According to the Scouting website:

The Duchess will attend the event together with around 20 other adult volunteers, learning new skills that will support her in her role as an occasional helper at her local Scout Group.

Possibly as a result of the criticism for the expense in using a helicopter for a previous engagement, Catherine took a first class 2 hour train ride to arrive at this engagement. She wore the red, white and blue UK adult scout scarf, primarily worn by Scouts travelling abroad. During her visit she got a tour of the facilities, learnt how to light a fire using a flint, cook unleavened dough twists over the campfire while sharing camaraderie with her fellow volunteers.

The Scouting association has an award-winning Volunteer training program; recognized with a National Training Award from UK Skills.

One of the Duchess of Cambridge’s areas of focus for her patronages is ‘helping children and young people to build their skills, confidence and aspirations’ as well as promoting outdoor activity. The Scouting association does just that by offering participants fun and adventure via hundreds of enriching activities.

For more information, visit the Scout Association website.

Only Kate can give The Queen second billing

This morning Kate surprised many royal watchers by accompanying the Queen and Prince Philip to Bakers Street Station to mark the 150th anniversary of the London underground. This wasn’t the only royal visit in celebration. In January, Prince Charles accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall marked the anniversary by taking his first tube ride in 33 years.

This was the Queen’s first major public engagement since March 1st, after suffering from gastroenteritis. It was also noted that this is the third engagement that the Kate has accompanied the Queen on. Prince Philip, who accompanied both women, probably wasn’t surprised to take third place on this visit.

The Queen has taken ‘the Tube’ as it is referred to in the UK (in Canada it is called the Subway) on a few occasions. Accompanied by her sister, Princess Margaret and governess, Marion Crawford, she took a ride in May 1939, four months after it opened. it must have been a novelty for the young princesses at the time. She has made a handful of visits since then. In 1969 she opened the Victoria Line and in 1977 she unveiled the Piccadilly link to Heathrow airport.

During the Queen’s last visit in 2010, she went to Aldgate Underground station to unveil a plaque commemorating the July 7th bombings and she was presented with a London underground sign for Buckingham Palace. On this visit, the royal party viewed a restored 1892 underground coach, and Catherine and Prince Philip watched the Queen unveil a plaque naming the train ‘Queen Elizabeth II’. Nice to know that if someone refuses to give up a seat for her and asks ‘does this train have your name on it?’ she can reply, ‘why yes, it does!’

However, the tube is no novelty for Kate. Nostalgically revealing, ‘I used to use the Tube on a regular basis. I miss travelling on the Tube.’ During the visit Catherine was presented with an underground badge ‘Baby on Board’. The button’s purpose ‘saves men the embarrassment of having to guess if a woman is pregnant.’

It was nice to see Kate ramping up her engagements and growing more comfortable in her royal role. Upon receiving the Baby on Board button jokingly replied, “I’ll make sure I wear it at home.”

Image via British Monarchy Flickr

The Return of Uncle Gary

Catherine’s controversial uncle Gary Goldsmith has returned, this time to sing her praises. Kate Middleton’s Uncle speaks out

Gary Goldsmith is the younger brother of Carole Middleton, Kate’s mother. He is famously viewed by the public as the black sheep of the family and with this new interview for Hello! it is likely to cement that view. Although I have only read a few excerpts of the interview, knowing Hello! reputation for never saying anything negative about anyone, it’s unlikely that there is anything particularly harmful to Kate. The same cannot be said for his reputation and several royal commentators have accused him of cashing in on his royal connections. His view of this interview is that he is ‘setting the record straight’.

There is no denying that he is eccentric. He named his home in Ibiza La Maison de Bang Bang (French slang for the House of Sex). The five bedroom villa is reportedly on the market for £5.6million. He came to the public’s attention when he was caught by News of the World undercover reporters snorting cocaine and offering advice on meeting prostitutes. In this new interview he credits himself with bringing William and Kate together after their brief split in 2007 and expresses a desire to be a part of Baby Cambridge’s upbringing.

Unsurprisingly, he is also reportedly planning to write his autobiography. Should he do so, any remote chance of playing a role in the royal baby’s upbringing is likely to become even more remote.