Kate Middleton triggered a fresh round of baby speculation after she attended an event in central London this evening - and held a purse over her abdomen for much of the evening.

As a royal watcher with considerable experience of looking at pictures of Kate (and that's putting it mildly), the Royalist can confidently tell you that Kate, who was without William, does not usually hold her handbag over her tummy for hours on end.

Royal sources say Kate and William have not breathed a word on whether or not she is pregnant, but there was renewed speculation over the weekend that she might be with child afer a British MP said she thought Kate was pregnant in front of an audience of 250 schoolchildren.

William and Kate have spoken previously of their desire to start a family. They are both 30.

Kate was attending a Creative Industries reception at the Royal Academy of Arts in London’s Piccadilly to support the Government’s GREAT Campaign, and she wore a loose-fitting  grey gown by designer Roksanda Ilincic, Serbian-born graduate of London fashion college Central St Martin's.

 Prime Minister David Cameron opened the event. During his speech, he turned to Kate and said, 'My favourite part of the opening ceremony was when your husband leant over and said to me 'I don't know if you know, Prime Minister, but my grandmother is a great fan of Dizzee Rascal.'

A guest at the event poured cold water on the baby speculation however, telling the Royalist, "Kate looked amazing - but very, very skinny and definitely not pregnant."

Guests included  model Lily Cole, Sir Terence Conran and Roger Daltry.