The stresses of parenting have clearly taken their toll on this couple, the grey hair, the lines of worry and age.

But we hope that Kate and Will age more like fine wines, and do rather better than forecast in this projection, produced by the (republican?) folks at myvouchercodes.co.uk.

The Queen’s eating habits have always been a rather fascinating subject, and this morning, lovers of this particular branch of esoteric royal trivia are in for a treat with an interview in The Telegraph with former royal chef Darren McGrady, who worked for the Royal family for 15 years – for Her Majesty until 1993, and for Diana, Princess of Wales, before her death in 1997.

Mr McGrady, 50, who was trained up in the royal household working as a carrot-peeler for the royal horses (I know) discloses that you “never put garlic in the Queen’s menu, for example, or strong onions or paprika, because she hates them.”

From The Telegraph:

Carole Middleton is the subject of a major profile in this month’s new edition of British society mag Tatler, who have a special royal baby edition out tomorrow.

In the piece, a parent whose child was at school with Kate and Pippa at Marlborough College, says that even then the perfect Middletons had a way of making other people feel inadequate.

The mother told Tatler magazine: "There was always something slightly galling about having your child at school with the Middletons. Every pristine item of their clothing would have a beautifully sewn-in name tape, for instance. There were huge picnics at sports day; the smartest tennis rackets, that kind of thing. It made other families feel rather hopeless."

With a tear in her eye but a brave smile on her face, the Queen of the Netherlands abdicated at 10:30am this morning in favour of her son, the new King Willem-Alexander.

Queen Beatrix, 75, winked at her son, Willem-Alexander, as the official Abdication Act was put in front of her for her last signature as monarch.

All 17 members of the House of Orange-Nassau were seated around a large table covered with a red cloth in the Moses Room of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam for this morning’s simple ceremony.

The upcoming June issue of Tatler magazine (on sale Thursday 2nd May) is a Royal Baby Special with a “What to Expect...” feature, which is an open letter of sorts to Kate, with everything she needs to know in the lead up to giving birth, including such gems as:

- Suggesting Kate carry a marrow swathed in cashmere blankets (instead of the baby) upon exiting the hospital, to avoid any mishaps caught on camera by the waiting paps.

- Warning her to have a second dress on hand for the christening, in case of any leaking nipples/baby spit up accidents.

American readers might not believe it, but there was a certain sense of astonishment when reports first started to filter out that Kate might be having a baby shower.

The custom is not so big this side of the pond.

Is this woman pregnant? I think she most definitely is.

Seems like only last week Kate was barely showing, but today Kate Middleton's rapidly expanding belly was centre stage as the young royal mom-to-be visited a kids hospice on the second anniversary of her wedding. William is on duty flying rescue 'copters in Anglesea so there is to be no romantic dinner tonight.

Kate  wore a $500 Tara Jarmon coat for her engagement at Naomi House children’s hospice in Hampshire.

The nurse who killed herself after being hoaxed into connecting a call from two Australian radio DJ's to Kate Middleton's room left a note directly blaming the two radio DJs.

The note, which emerged publicly this weekend ahead of the official inquest into her death said: "I hold the Radio Australians Mel Greig and Michael Christian responsible for this act. Please make them pay for my mortgage."

The two DJs have since returned to work in low-profile positions.

Mrs Saldanha  took her own life last December. just three days after she transferred the hoax call to a ward nurse.

William and Kate truly let their hair down on a tour of the new Warner Bros studio in the UK today, taking part in a Harry Potter-style wand duel on a day of fun and games while experiencing the movie giant's new visitor tour.

The young royals - along with their brother Harry -  were introduced to Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the  couple  were given a lesson in how to cast spells with wands - then duelled against each other.

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

Kate looked on giggling dutifully.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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