Royal Roundup: Baby Watch Begins, Wedding Gift Details Revealed & an Update on Spain

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Restricted parking is officially up in front of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London. This will be where the Duchess of Cambridge gives birth later this month, and though we don’t know the due date, we do know courtesy of signage that the space has been blocked off between April 9 and April 30. Because Kate’s children are usually late, my guess is the due date itself is on the earlier side.

Parking Sign

We don’t know the baby’s gender – as with their first two children, William and Kate opted not to find out beforehand. For those new to this process, the announcement that Kate has entered hospital will be shared via Twitter and our next update will come via an official announcement that Kate has delivered either a girl or a boy.

George 2013
William and Kate with George in 2013

A name will be announced a day or two later. Favored names for a boy are “Philip” and “Arthur,” while favored names for a girl are “Alice,” “Mary,” and “Victoria.”

We will briefly see William, Kate and the new baby when they come outside for a photo call. Prince George and Princess Charlotte may also be brought to hospital to meet their new sibling, however since they are both in school that is highly dependent on the timing of the birth. When George was born, Kate stayed overnight and left the next day, however with Charlotte, she gave birth in the morning and left later that day.

Kate will likely return to Kensington Palace for the next phase of her maternity leave, however I would guess that they will decamp to Anmer Hall in Norfolk once school lets out.

Charlotte 2015
William and Kate taking Charlotte home in 2015

Some are speculating that Kate won’t resume a normal engagement schedule until September, which is probably about right. That said, there are a few moments where we will almost certainly see Kate before then. In May she will attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor, and in June she will likely attend Trooping the Colour. We will also see the whole family at the new baby’s christening, though timing is unclear. George’s christening was held three months after his birth, while Charlotte’s came just two months later. The x-factor here is the Queen’s schedule and her annual holiday at Balmoral in Scotland. My guess is that the christening will take place in June or early July, though it’s worth noting the former is a busy royal month and the latter will interfere with Wimbledon.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Kate will make a handful of appearances over the summer, though not at the clip she was this past winter. She’ll likely attend at least one day at Wimbledon, if not two, and it’s possible she’ll turn up for big moments going on with any of her patronages. If she does, they’ll probably be local to London or Norfolk – no away days.

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William and Kate at Wimbledon in July 2015

As we know, August is always slow with the family on holiday and then it’ll be back to business as usual in September.

Meanwhile, in H&M world, Kensington Palace tweeted out information about the seven charities for which Harry and Meghan have requested donations in lieu of wedding gifts. You can read more about them here.

The Prince of Wales is wrapping up his tour of Australia tomorrow and will then be back in the UK. The Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings are due to begin in London next Monday, though details on when and how members of the RF will be deployed are unclear. As we’ve discussed, with Kate out of commission, it’s considered likely that Meghan will be called upon to make at least an appearance.

Letizia & Sofia
Sofia and Letizia with Leonor and Sofia over the weekend

Finally, the Spanish Royal Family, still recovering from #Eastergate, have been putting on quite the display of family togetherness. Queens Letizia and Sofia attended two engagements together last week, including one at which they were joined by Letizia’s daughters, Infantas Leonor and Sofia, and King Felipe.

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Felipe with Sofia & Letizia

Smiling and chatting, both women seemed eager to dispel rumors of a rift.

And that’s that! I have two history posts queued up for this week, however I have the publication times set for a little later than usual, allowing me to delay them if we get baby news from KP first thing in the morning. Any day now…

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