So Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is not expecting twins -- a boy and a girl -- and Prince William presumably did not ‘collapse with joy - and relief - when Kate called to tell him she was pregnant’, as this week’s Star claimed.
The firm denial from the palace, which must have been sanctioned by Kate, has left a US publication looking rather silly. Another week, another tabloid turkey…
In the UK we don’t see much of the US press and the Internet sites of some of the big magazines are barred here. However, I have seen enough to gather that the royal reporting in the UK often bears no resemblance to that in the US - often they could be writing about two entirely different families!
Some magazines seem to contradict themselves within a few weeks. Last year some had already characterised Kate and Charles’s wife Camilla in a sort of pantomime with Kate cast as Cinderella and Camilla as the wicked stepmother.
In the old days it used to be the French who played fast and loose with the British royal family. There were stories suggesting for instance that Princess Anne had entertained the Chelsea soccer team in her private rooms *hint hint, nudge nudge*. All nonsense, of course.
Mainly because of tighter libel controls, the UK has not reprinted some of the wilder American stories. Admittedly, all has not been well here either - as the phone hacking scandal shows.
Certainly the couple want to start a family, but as William said in a televised interview on the day he and Kate announced their engagement: “I think we’ll take it one step at a time. We’ll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids. But obviously we want a family, so we’ll have to start thinking about that.”
Traditionally royal newlyweds start a family within nine months of marriage. Diana was pregnant after three months as was Princess Elizabeth, now the Queen. Queen Victoria was pregnant shortly after her wedding night. So William and Kate will be breaking with 200 years of royal tradition if she is not expecting after 2012. Lots of scope then for speculation.
So, for royal watchers anxiously waiting royal baby news, seems they will have to keep waiting, but there is some good news for Will and Kate fans. Even though the newlyweds didn't conceive any royal offspring on their recent tours of Canada and the U.S., there was lots of great film footage captured.
An official royal tour documentary is being produced, with British film crews trailing the couple during their visit to Prince Edward Island, which is considered to be the "highlight" of their two week long tour. The documentary is an hour-long special focused on the couple's first six months of marriage. Film producer Jack Burge had this to say about the Canadian visit:
"The major thing they did was the visit to Canada and out of the visit to Canada, P.E.I. is — in their estimation and in most other people's — the highlight."
"You had the best photo-ops, you had the best events and you had the best reactions so that's why we're here talking to people who were there, talking to people who organized it, talking to the people who met the couple."
The documentary is scheduled for completion by November and will air on NBC. This is currently no set air date.
