World thrilled by Kate expectations

It had been no secret that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dreamed of starting a family of their own, with speculation increasing in recent weeks.

But the official statement came unexpectedly after the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital with severe morning sickness.

The royal baby will be born into one of the world’s most privileged families – and the birth will have a wider historical and constitutional impact as for the first time the child will sit on the throne whether male or female, born third in line of succession.

Before their wedding last year, the royal couple spoke earnestly about the next stage in their life.

Kate, who is close to her own parents and siblings, revealed: “I hope we will be able to have a happy family ourselves.”

The baby will be the first grandchild for the parents of the Duchess, Carole and Michael Middleton, and the first for the Prince of Wales – although he is already a grandfather to the Duchess of Cornwall’s grandchildren.

The child will one day be head of the Armed Forces, supreme governor of the Church of England and head of the Commonwealth, which covers 54 nations, and subsequently head of state of 16 countries.

The couple will have to protect the prince or princess from avid world interest in the future king or queen with the front page of news websites in the United States, Germany, Argentina, France and India among those dominated by the announcement last night.

The Duke has often spoken of how important it was for him to be treated like everyone else, while his wife, who herself comes from a wealthy background, has been praised for her down-to-earth approach.

When the Duke was born, thousands of people gathered outside Buckingham Palace to wait for the birth to be formally announced.

He was the first future British king to be born in a hospital in June 1982.

In contrast, when the Queen was born in her grandparents’ London home in Mayfair, the home secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks waited in the next room as part of an age-old custom to prevent a substitute baby being smuggled in.

Kate will be tended by a top medical team. Royal mothers are usually looked after by the Queen’s gynaecologist – currently Alan Farthing, the former fiancé of murdered TV presenter Jill Dando.

The birth follows a radical shake-up of the monarchy’s succession rights.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced in October last year that the 15 other Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state had agreed to give female royals the same rights of succession as their brothers.

When the law goes through, first-born royal daughters in direct line to the throne will no longer be leapfrogged by their younger male siblings.

The announcement is another milestone in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year.

With the monarch having celebrated her historic 60 years on the throne, the fact that 
she now has a new great-grandchild on the way will ensure 2012 is even more poignant for her.

The news echoes back to the Silver Jubilee of 1977 when the Queen learned that her first grandchild was on its way. Peter Phillips was born in November that year.

The Cambridges’ baby will be the Queen’s third great grandchild.

Her first, Savannah, was born to Peter and his wife Autumn 
in 2010 and the couple had another baby, Isla Elizabeth, in March.

The last time a still-serving monarch met a great grandchild born in direct succession to the crown was when the future Edward VIII was born in 1894 during Queen Victoria’s reign.

If the Duchess gives birth to a girl, many expect the couple to pay homage to William’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as to the Queen. The arrival of a boy could see a tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh or Prince Charles.