LONDON: The hospital is ready, the Wikipedia page and Twitter accounts are up and Britain’s famously creative press are running out of ideas. But yesterday arrived with no sign of the royal baby.
Prince William is filling the time until his wife Catherine goes into labour playing polo, taking part in charity matches on Saturday and Sunday with his younger brother Harry. He has taken a couple of days off from his work as a search and rescue helicopter pilot in Wales, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said, although he refused to say when the prince might be going back.
The palace has stayed tight-lipped about the birth of the new third in line to the throne, saying nothing for days other than to reiterate that Catherine is due some time in mid-July.
The press had pencilled in Saturday as the day, but bookmakers William Hill tipped Sunday as the likely due date, with Paddy Power offering equal odds yesterday and today. The only thing that is certain is that babies rarely come on time and that when this new heir to the Windsor dynasty arrives, the world will be ready.
In keeping with the digital age, the newborn already has its own page on Wikipedia, entitled “Child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge”, to use William and Kate’s formal titles. Several spoof Twitter accounts have also been set up, with one, @RoyalFoetus, already claiming 5,500 followers. On June 19, it declared: “One is done with gestating.”
International media are camped outside St Mary’s Hospital in London where Catherine is due to give birth, and a row of parking spaces have been reserved by the royals outside the private Lindo Wing until the end of the month.
AFP
