news details |
|
|
| William and Kate 'don't know' royal baby's sex | | | UK: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have "decided not to find out" the sex of their baby, royal officials say. The baby will be delivered in the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London - where Princess Diana had her sons. The baby is due in mid-July, and Prince William hopes he will be present if his RAF duties allow. St James's Palace officials have appealed for an "appropriate degree of sensitivity" regarding the birth. It is understood Prince William will take two weeks' paternity leave - as allowed by the Ministry of Defence - but royal officials said the length of the duchess's maternity leave is a personal matter for her. As with their courtship, engagement and wedding so too with this birth. A very personal moment in the lives of William and Kate will be played out on a very public stage. The unborn child offers an ancient institution the prospect of a future stretching into another generation. As the Queen put it after Prince William's birth, "I am very pleased we have another heir". William, like his father, plans to be by his wife's side. Prince Philip was playing squash when his eldest son came into the world. And although Kate has joined a family steeped in history, she will be spared some past customs. The practice of the home secretary being present at a royal birth ended in 1936. And there'll be no Archbishop of Canterbury in the delivery suite. For the birth of Queen Victoria's first son, the then archbishop turned up, as if for a state occasion, wearing a horse hair wig.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|