Kate, the bump and another new dress: back to royal normality

Kate, the bump and another new dress: back to royal normality

Comment   

After a frenzied 24 hours in which speculation was ramped up over just about every royal scenario you can imagine, we end in a rather normal situation. The regal week comes to an end with an appearance from the Duchess of Cambridge and a return to the far less fevered world of bump spotting, gender guessing and new evening gowns. Welcome to royal reality.


Embed from Getty Images 

At one point today, whispers about a potential royal engagement being announced were so loud you couldn't shut them out if you tried. Reports in the Evening Standard that the BBC was on stand by for a major royal story on November 24th combined with bookies stopping taking bets on a betrothal between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Thursday led to orders for souvenir tea towels being finalised across the land. Make that world. No matter. The crucial moment that is 11am on the nose when royal engagements are made public came and went without so much as a hint of a diamond.

Embed from Getty Images  

Never worry, in the absence of a royal wedding let's get back to royal baby number three. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were always scheduled to attend the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium so Harry doing the marry thing would always have been slightly awkward as it would have led to photos of the future king attending a royal staple being bounced by his brother.

Embed from Getty Images  

William and Kate arrived for a slightly delayed performance - the Palladium in Argyll Street in central London was briefly out of bounds after the Metropolitan Police responded to reports of gunshots being fired around nearby Oxford Circus. The Met later confirmed they had found no trace of ''any suspects, evidence of shots fired, or casualties''.

Embed from Getty Images 

The royal guests are following a very regal tradition. The Royal Variety Performance began in 1912 when King George V and Queen Mary attended the Royal Command Performance. The king had said he would attend an event provided all the proceeds went to the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund. Now well over 100 years old, the show is run by the Royal Variety Charity of which the Queen is patron. It will raise money that will help hundreds of entertainers throughout the UK in need of support.

Embed from Getty Images  

It really was back down to earth. This event is a regular in the royal calendar and really marks the final regal turn towards Christmas. It's attended by different members of the Royal Family every year and this was the Cambridges' second appearance at the event  - the first was in 2014. So after hours of wondering which big royal story was next, it all ended very predictably. A royal staple, Kate in Jenny Packham (new, too) and lots of photos of her bump which is truly making its presence felt. The speculation was left to whether Baby Cambridge Number Three is a boy or girl (she's in baby blue and that bump is all out front right now so let's go with boy for the next hour or so) and everyone in Kensington Palace can settle down to a proper giggle about how excited everyone got about something that didn't happen at all. This is the royal reality. As you were - until Monday, at least.

Photo Kensington Royal Twitter.

Royal Baby Number 3: the maternity wardrobe starts here

Royal Baby Number 3: the maternity wardrobe starts here

Comment   

Stand by, Cambridge baby number three is really making a mark. We've known that Kate is pregnant again since September but in the last twenty four hours, that baby bump has had a proper debut. And today was another landmark in the eagerly watched great expectations of Kate, part three. For today, the duchess debuted maternity wear.


Embed from Getty Images 

OK, OK, a pregnant woman is allowed to wear a shift dress without the maternity klaxon sounding but let's enjoy the fact that Kate is blooming right now. She's well into her second trimester now (remember, it's St Mary's, Paddington in April 2018) and baby Cambridge number three is starting to make their presence felt.

Embed from Getty Images  

The dress is by Goat and was worn with black tights and shoes. The clutch bag was black as well which might seem odd for a dress verging on the brown but it's all very autumnal and we're all looking at the tummy anyway.

Embed from Getty Images  

The Duchess of Cambridge was attending the Place2Be School Leaders' Forum at UBS London on November 8th when the shift to shifts took place. Kate is patron of Place2Be, a children's mental health charity which provides in school training and support for emotional wellbeing. Kate has been its patron since 2013 and regularly attends events for the organisation.

Embed from Getty Images 

This is the second engagement in two days for the duchess after last night's appearance at a gala dinner for the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families, another charity which counts Kate as its patron. But while baby bump has been getting lots of attention over the last few hours, it was the eldest of her children that got mum talking at this latest appearance. During her speech to the forum, Kate revealed that she is now a school run mum - she famously had to miss George's first day of classes because of the Hyperemesis Gravidarum which affected her at the start of this third pregnancy, as it has with both her other great expectations.

Watch The Duchess of Cambridge speak at the @Place2Be School Leaders Forum. pic.twitter.com/HRQlrJVHD1

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) November 8, 2017

Speaking to the forum (there's a clip above), Kate said that now she was part of the school world she realised that it takes a ''community'' to raise a child and added that ''whether we are school leaders, teachers, support staff or parents - we're all in this together''.  The Duchess of Cambridge also reinforced her support for the work of Place2Be as she commented that ''getting support to children at the very earliest stage helps improve their outcomes in later life''.

Embed from Getty Images

The Duchess of Cambridge has, of course, been extremely vocal in her support for work towards improving mental health over a number of years. This latest speech ties in with many of the causes close to her heart. The issue will no doubt consider to play a part in Kate's agenda over the coming months and baby Cambridge number three begins to take centre stage.

Photo credit: Kensington Palace Instagram

Kate's bouncing back to health

Kate's bouncing back to health

Comment   

After several months of severe morning sickness, it seems that Kate is bouncing back to health. The Duchess of Cambridge, now into the second trimester of her third pregnancy, looked to have put the Hyperemsis Gravidarum which forced her to stay indoors for the best part of two months behind her as she carried out her latest public engagement. It was anyone for tennis as Kate started her autumn agenda again.



Embed from Getty Images 

The Duchess of Cambridge was visiting the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton in her capacity as patron of the Lawn Tennis Association, a role she took on in December 2016 when the Queen passed it on to her. Kate was accompanied for the first time by her new private secretary, Catherine Quinn, who was appointed earlier this year.

Embed from Getty Images 

 

Kate's itinerary today included a chat about the work going on at the centre. A major aim of the Lawn Tennis Association is to get more people, especially youngsters, involved in the sport and the Duchess was able to hear about the programmes being rolled out to achieve this. Among them is Tennis for Kids which will give around 22,500 children across the UK the chance to learn the sport this year.

The Duchess joins in with a coaching session with Tennis for Kids Ambassador @JoKonta91. 🎾 pic.twitter.com/bl4n10OtxQ

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

Then it was time for the obligatory royal playing sports shots. Kate took to the court with some of the children who have been learning tennis to try her skills and see how they are getting on. She took part in a coaching session run by Coach Core apprentices. They themselves are part of the Coach Core scheme which trains young people looking for work to become coaches. It was was set up by the Royal Foundation overseen by William, Kate and Harry who recently celebrated its achievements at a special event in London.

Embed from Getty Images 

 

If you were hoping for clue as to whether baby Cambridge number three is a boy or girl (we're getting close to the point where a scan might just say) then you're out of luck. There was no baby blue or pink anywhere to be seen as the duchess went all sporty sensible and turned up in black trackies. Which, as anyone who has ever been pregnant knows, is just about the only thing you ever really want to wear while waiting for baby.

Embed from Getty Images 

 

This is Kate's first pre announced solo engagement since the summer - her most recent appearances have been surprises as she has accompanied William and Harry to events already in their diary. Given how well she looked and the fact that in her previous two pregnancies, the effects of Hyperemsis Gravidarm have lessened considerably as she progressed into her second trimester, we can perhaps take this as a signal that Kate is over the worst of it. The Duchess of Cambridge is bouncing back to full health.

Photo credit: Kensington Palace Twitter