It's Day 19 of Royal Baby watch and what a day it's been! It all began this afternoon with word that William and Catherine had left the Middleton home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where they've been staying since last weekend. Reports quickly emerged that the couple, accompanied by their royal protection officers left by car en route for London. Now you can imagine what we were all hoping for at that point! A couple of hours later a car pulled up outside St Mary's, a pregnant brunette stepped out with her partner and approached the front door prompting many to tweet, "Kate's gone in the front door" and "BREAKING NEWS: The Duchess has been admitted to St Mary's".
I wasn't that sure that it was actually the Duchess, as I would think that she would take extra care to stay out of the media spotlight by not going in through the front door. Members of the media and onlookers quickly swooped in before the lady turned round and she was revealed to be a lookalike hired by The Sun to promote their newspaper. The lookalikes opened their coats to reveal t-shirts with the slogan "No1 for Royal Baby News".
Some found the stunt comical while others (including yours truly) felt it was in very poor taste. We all remember too well how wrong these pranks can go. Who can forget the events that occurred during Catherine's stay at the King Edward VII hospital in December. I imagine staff who were treating patients were disrupted, as were patients by the noise outside.
Most of all everyone was disappointed the Duchess was not actually in labor! :)
Shortly after the hysteria calmed down at St. Mary's, The Times journalist David Brown reported armed police had in fact returned to the Middleton family home, meaning it was quite possible William and Catherine just popped out for a few hours escorted by their protection officers.
If you wish to keep up with all the events unfolding outside St. Mary's (Crazy Street as it's now referred to by members of the press) there are two live feeds operating: one at The Telegraph and a Reuters Live Camera. Should you see a sudden increase in police presence it is one of the first indications something is happening.
Prince William is now on annual leave and won't be returning to his job as a Search and Rescue pilot at RAF Valley until after the baby is born. The Prince plans to take his two weeks statutory paternity leave.
If you've been keeping up with the latest news, you'll know there's been conflicting coverage about Catherine's due date. It is thought the Duchess may be overdue at this point but there has been no official word from the Palace. The other story making headlines, has been reports the Duchess plans to give birth at the Royal Berkshire Hospital; barring an emergency the plan is still for her to give birth at St Mary's. Whatever the due date, the only thing that I'm wishing for at this point is for the royal baby to arrive safely and most of all, healthy.
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