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Holy Royals, Batman!

William Rides The Bat Bike!

William had a blast today when he got up on the Bat Bike while experiencing the new tour at Warner Bros's UK studios.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

Kate looked on giggling dutifully.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

Abracadabra!

The Three (and a half) Musketeers!

Including the unborn, the second, third and fourth in line to the throne were all present on today's engagement

In a publicity spell more powerful than even the most astute teenage wizard could dream up, Harry, William and Kate today attended the opening of the new British Warner Bros. Studios tour. The studio tour encompasses many of the sets on which the Harry Potter series was filmed.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

Including the unborn, the second, third and fourth in line to the throne were all present.

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Eamonn M. McCormack / Getty Images

Breaking

Prince Harry Reads the News!

His dad was a hit when he did the weather forecast, but Prince Harry proved less compelling viewing when tried his hand at reading the news on television during his visit to Nottingham today.

The young royal was at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies which is part of the consortium which will run Nottingham's first local television station Notts TV, due to start broadcasting next year, when he had a go.

Uncle Harry!

Harry Undergoes Brain Injury Simulations

Prince Harry visited Headway, a charity for people coping with life after brain injury, in Nottingham today

Prince Harry showed he is still game for a laugh today when he attempted to change the nappy of a baby (doll) with just one hand.

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Chris Jackson

He was performing the task during a royal visit to Headway, a charity that helps people with brain injuries. The exercise, during which Harry had to hold a weight in hsi other hand, was designed to mimic the challenges facing brain-injured people as they attempt every day tasks.

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AFP

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Tim P. Whitby

Kate wore an Emilia Wickstead maternity dress for an engagement last night

Kate Middleton bowed to the inevitable last night, wearing a maternity dress in public for the first time.

Still, at somewhere between six and seven months pregnant, she can hardly be accused of not holding out as long as possible.

And she looked stunning, natch.

The royal bump was out on parade as never before as the future Queen attended an event at the National Portrait Gallery to support the charity Art Room of which she is patron.

Topless Pic Scandal

Kate Middleton Toplesss Photographs: Two Charged

Criminal investigation into photographs is possible under France's strict privacy laws

A female photographer and a publishing executive have been charged over the topless pictures of Kate Middleton taken in France last year and published around the world, it is being reported.

The France-based AFP news agency is reporting that a senior executive at the Mondadori Group - the publisher of glossy magazine Closer where the shots were first printed - and a photographer at regional daily La Provence have both been charged.

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Chris Jackson

The photographer in question is Valerie Suau and the executive is Ernesto Mauri, the publisher of French Closer magazine.

Harry could be going to join the Australian army on secondment, paper says, but Harry's people say it's not happening

Secret plans are being drawn up for Prince Harry to spend six months in the land down under, on secondment with the Australian Army, according to a report published in the Australian newspaper today. However, Harry's spokespeople told the Royalist that there are 'no such plans'.

Australia is part of the Commonwealth, the club of ex-British Empire nations which maintain a friendly confederacy and many of which, like Australia, retain the Queen as their head of state.

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Prince Harry in Afghanistan in September 2012 (John Stillwell/AFP/Getty)

Royal aides and security officials are assessing the risks of such a deployment according to the paper, which says it has learned that Prince Harry has said he is keen to serve alongside Australian soldiers.

The paper says:

Harry Meade is a close pal of William and Harry's

A close friend of William and Harry is suing News International over alleged phone hacking by the News of the World, according to the UK Guardian, the paper that has been at the forefront of reporting over the long-running saga.

It is thought that operatives acting on behalf of the paper may have intercepted Meade's voicemails to get information about William and Kate, who attended Meade's wedding in October 2010 in an appearance that prompted speculation that they were engaged.

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Harry Meade (Matt Cardy / Getty Images)

Harry Meade has filed a civil claim against News Group Newspapers at the high court in London.

Meade is a party pal of Harry's who first came to public attention as the host of the fancy dress party in 2005 to which Prince Harry wore a swastika armband. Meade is an accomplished showjumper and is also friends with Zara Philips.

Party Prince

Naughty Harry Passed Over for Order of Garter

Is Harry being reprimanded for his naked partying antics?

Naughty boy, Harry!

Prince Harry has been passed over for elevation to the Order of the Garter, an omission which may be interpreted as a chastisement from the monarch over the disrepute into which he has brought the monarchy with last year's naked partying.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

The Order of the Garter is the highest order of chivalry in the UK, and is in the exclusive gift of the monarch.

Kate was in a troubled part of Manchester to launch a new kids charity

Kate continues a busy week of engagements today with a visit to a school on troubled estate in Wythenshawe, Manchester that is the setting for the original 'Shameless' TV show.

Duchess of Cambridge

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visits the Willows Primary School in Wythenshawe, Manchester, Britain, on April 23, 2013, to launch a new school counselling program. (Peter Powell/EPA, via Landov )

She looked neat and petite despite the ever-growing baby bump in a spring-accented Erdem Sophia Visconti-Bloom Dress. The navy-blue, burgundy, white, blue and pink Visconti-bloom silk-crepe dress has a square-neckline and sheer half-sleeves. The fitted dress has a hidden zip and a small back hem slit.The dress is available for €1248 at Matches. It's also available Neiman Marcus and Net-a-Porter.

Kate was visiting the Willows Primary School, which is, against all the odds, one of the city's most successful primaries. The troubles the area faces were graphically illustrated when arsonists attacked the school just hours after Kate's visit was first announced.

Thatcher respected the hunger strikers determination, new bio reveals, but publicly denounced them and refused to acced to their demands

Margaret Thatcher’s authorized biography – by Charles Moore, the former editor of the Daily Telegraph, in which publication the book is being serialised - was published days after her death, according to a long-standing plan.

Thatcher and Sands

Left: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Right: North Ireland's Bobby Sands. (AP; AFP/Getty)

One of the most surprising revelations to come out of it is the personal respect that Mrs Thatcher had for her most implacable group of enemies – the IRA hunger strikers.

Bobby Sands and nine other IRA prisoners died on hunger strike, over demands that they be treated as political prisoners rather than common criminals and be allowed a raft of special privileges at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland where they were being held.

Wedding Bells?

Harry Wants To Marry, Cressie Gets Stressy: Report

Cressida not ready to tie the knot, but Harry is keen, reports say

Prince Harry, 30, has made no secret of his desire to get married, telling interviewers twice in the past year that he is looking for that special someone to settle down with.

Now, it seems, he has settled on his new girlfriend Cressida Bonas as the girl to 'take on' the role of being his wife as he described it in one interview.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

Trouble is, Miss Bonas, 24, isn't quite so sure she has found her Prince Charming yet.

Harry went ahead with long-standing plans to attend London Marathon yesterday

Prince Harry paid tribute to the people of Boston yesterday as he presented medals to the winners of the London marathon, accompanied by Richard Branson of sponsors Virgin

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Getty Images / Dan Kitwood

He told the BBC that missing the event was "was never an option as far as I was concerned," adding, "Certainly everyone that was planning on coming is still here, no one's changed any plans - the volunteers, the security, everyone is here, nothing's changed. It was always going to be really well run and it always is, typically the British way the London marathon has been running for years.

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Chris Jackson / Getty Images

Retro Hetero

James Middleton's New Squeeze Donna Air

Baker man dating Brit TV presenter

Just a few weeks ago, close friends of James Middleton, the amazing, baking brother of the future Queen Kate, were being authorised to tell reporters he wasn't gay.

Now, the heterosexual Mr Middleton is to put such idle gossip behind him once and for all with the news that he is dating British TV presenter Donna Air.

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Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images

The 33-year-old television presenter - who is seven years older than young James - is used to rolling in high society circles havign previously beene negaged to Damian Aspinall, the casino-owning son of the late zoo keeper John Aspinall, by whom she has a daughter, Freya.

On Parade!

Kate Really Shows Off her Baby Bump At Last!

Britain Duchess of Cambridge

Britain's Duchess of Cambridge meets scouts as she attends the National Review of Queen's Scouts at Windsor Castle, near London Sunday, April 21, 2013. (Pool photo by Olivia Harris,via AP)

Kate single-handedly hosted a traditional high-profile royal event yesterday - and her baby bump was a prominent part of the team

We got to see Kate looking really pregnant for the first time yesterday, when she did a meet and greet with boy scouts at Windsor Castle, standing in for the Queen who was celebrating her actual 87th birthday privately (her official birthday, in June, is the big ceremonial affair marked by the pomp-heavy ceremony known as the Trooping of The Colour).

Britain Duchess of Cambridge

Britain's Duchess of Cambridge meets scouts as she attends the National Review of Queen's Scouts at Windsor Castle, near London Sunday, April 21, 2013. (Pool photo by Olivia Harris,via AP)

It was the first time we have seen Kate looking properly preggers - although she is STILL eschewing maternity wear, instead sporting a mint cotton Mulberry coat that is currently on sale for £1,750, teamed with her favourite nude LK Bennett heels and a tan-coloured fascinator by Whiteley that she has worn on several previous occasions.

Impressive for six months.

About the Author

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Tom Sykes

THE ROYALIST, updated several times daily, reports on all aspects of the British Royal Family. With breaking news and the latest gossip, great pictures and informed commentary, the Royalist is essential eyeballing for fans of the world’s most famous family.

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