Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends a naming ceremony for the 'Royal Princess' cruise ship in Southampton, southern England June 13, 2013.
Since making her final, pre-delivery public appearance last Saturday, the Duchess of Cambridge has left everyone from monarchy-deprived Americans to Kate Middleton impersonators anxiously refreshing their twitter feeds to make sure they don’t miss out on any baby news. Middleton isn’t due until July 13th, but there’s always the chance she’ll deliver early — after all, Kim Kardashian, who reportedly had the same due date, just gave birth to her first baby, a girl, nearly a month earlier than expected.
To help us all mentally prepare for the arrival of the newest heir to the throne, royal sources just released fresh details about the big day. The baby, whose gender has not been revealed, will be delivered at the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, the same place where Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana, gave birth to him and Harry.
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While hospital staff will be on its toes, it shouldn’t expect a visit from the grandmother-to-be, Queen Elizabeth II, who will be vacationing at the Balmoral estate in Scotland, the Associated Press reports. Prince William, on the other hand, "fully intends to be present at the birth,” according to officials. Unlike his grandfather, who was enjoying a game of squash when Queen Elizabeth gave birth to Charles, Prince William will not only be by the bedside, but is reportedly taking two weeks paternity leave before returning to his military duties as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in Wales.
Once the baby is born, a royal aide at the hospital will give a signed bulletin — written on Buckingham Palace letterhead and detailing the newborn’s gender, weight and time of birth — to an official who will be driven to the Palace. The bulletin will be placed on an easel in front of the building. In a nod to the twenty-first century, the announcement will be posted on Twitter at the same time. However, don’t expect to find out the baby’s name right away. Prince William’s name wasn’t publicly released until a week after he was born.
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And for those still concerned about Princess Middleton looking too thin, there’s been no indication the birth won’t be a normal one, at least biologically speaking. "For the most part, people who are thin do very well during pregnancy,” Macones, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University in St Louis, told TIME in December. In fact, it’s actually a myth that pregnant women should eat for two. Bigger babies have a higher risk of becoming diabetic and obese as they grow older, and carrying a baby actually only requires just 300 extra calories a day.
