Thr Royalist was always taught to stand up and offer one's seat to a pregnant lady when on public transport, but there's a problem.

How do you tell if the woman in question is pregnant, or just fat?

The dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, when she danced with John Travolta at a White House state dinner was sold at auction for $360,000 last night to an anonymous bidder, who said he wanted to surprise his wife with a special gift. The stunning off-the-shoulder, midnight blue velvet gown, designed by Victor Edelstein, was worn by Diana as she was spun around the White House dance floor by Travolta during a visit to the U.S. in 1985.

The resulting image is one of the most celebrated pictures of the glamorous and vivacious Diana at the peak of her fame.

The Edelstein gown was the star lot in a sale of 10 of Diana’s dresses at vintage fashion auctioneers Kerry Taylor Auctions in London, which raised more than $1.2 million last night, reflecting the extraordinary renewed interest in the British royal family since the marriage of William and Kate.

Hard to believe she is almost six months pregnant, isn't it?

But the world got its first proper view of Kate's baby bump today when she wore a short cream jacket by British label Goat as she and William made a public appearance at a charity which supports bereaved children.

For once, Kate did without the long coats she has worn of late to hide her pregnancy, happy to show off her growing baby bump.

William's mother Diana supported the charity, Child Bereavement UK, and founder Julia Samuel said today: "I am so grateful for William's support and proud of him for speaking so openly about the effect that losing his mother has had on him. It sounds so trite to say, but I know Diana would have been so proud of him too."

Ten dresses belonging to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, including a gown designed by Victor Edelstein which she famously wore while dancing with actor John Travolta, are to be auctioned in London later today.

They could make as much as $1m.

Mostly evening wear worn by Diana for official engagements between 1985 and 1997,the dresses are all made by British designers; long-term Diana favourite Catherine Walker has six dresses, and Bruce Oldfield and Zandra Rhodes also feature. The gowns were previously part of a private collection.

Now, if Prince Harry was there it really could have been a night to remember.

Prince William last night attended a special dinner for Irish rugby international Brian O’Driscoll, who was forced to miss the Royal wedding because it clashed with a crucial match against french team Toulouse.

Bono and his wife Ali Hewson were also guests at the dinner in the Grosvenor House Hotel in London which was attended by about 800 people.

Comedian Patrick Kielty acted as MC for the “strictly private” dinner. The cheapest tickets cost €680, the middle category went for €1,000 each, while the price of the so-called “black” tickets – “the ones close to Brian”,  one source told the Irish Times, was “not disclosed”.

Kate Middleton’s naughty uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has cashed in on his relationship with the young Royals with a tell-all interview in Hello! Magazine.

Mr Goldsmith, who famously owned a villa in Ibiza called Casa Bang Bang and was filmed snorting cocaine there and offering to set up deals in a News of the World sting four years ago, said he would play a role in the upbringing of Kate’s baby, claimed credit for getting Wiliam and Kate back together when they broke up and said that William was taught to mix by a mate of his on his DJ decks in Spain.

He also contrasted Kate and Pippa’s characters in the interview, saying that while Kate has always had to work hard to achieve results, everything ‘came easily’ to Pippa.

Tragedy has struck the British art world after a 23-year-old assistant to the celebrated artist David Hockney, a personal favourite of the Queen, died after being taken to hospital from the artist's home in Yorkshire, England in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Police are saying that the death of Dominic Elliott, 23, is currently “unexplained”, but they are awaiting the results of an autopsy tomorrow which could shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the young man's death. Violence has been ruled out.

Mr Elliott is a local man who was recruited by the 75-year-old artist to help with a series of works based around the seaside town of Scarborough, where Hockney has been based for much of each year since returning from Los Angeles in the late 1970s where he created his celebrated seies of swimming pool pictures. He also helped with setting up equipment and exhibitions.

Kate Middleton effortlessly quashed rumours that she is having a girl today when she told soldiers who she was meeting that while she would like a son,  her husband William is hoping their first born is a girl.

Her remarks will go down well in the palace where many are hopeful the new royal child will be male, despite a recent change in the law to enable a daughter to one day inherit the crown.

Kate’s revealing comments came at the St Patrick’s Day Parade this morning at the Aldershot military base in England, home to the Irish Guards. William is a Colonel in the Regiment.

Diana's boyfriend Hasnat Khan, the heart surgeon with whom she had a discreet two year relationship which ended just months before her tragic death, has revealed that he believes voicemails left on his phone were hacked as far back as 1996.

The news comes as the phone-hacking scandal took a fresh twist today with claims that there may be an additional 600 victims of the practice at the shuttered News of the World. The new names were handed over by a suspect turned "supergrass".

The revelation about Hasnat Khan comes from friends of the surgeon whom the Princess referred to as Mr Wonderful, speaking to The Daily Telegraph today.

Yesterday her sister was at the races, but today Kate herself arrived at Cheltenham for one of the biggest days in the National Hunt (jump race) calendar: the Gold Cup.

Kate, who arrived with William in a chauffeur-driven Range Rover, wore a massive pink coat from Lock & Co, making sure that her baby bump was well-masked.

Kate's presence at Cheltenham is just the latest sign that she has well and truly recovered from the acute variety of morning sickness which hospitalised her last year.

Prince Charles is learning Arabic in order to be able to read the Koran, it has emerged, but he is having a tough time mastering the foreign language.

When Qatar's energy minister inquired if Charles spoke any Arabic at an event yesterday, Charles replied, "I tried to learn it once but I gave up. It goes in one ear and out the other," he answered.

However, a report in the Telegraph citing confidential sources said that Charles had indeed been taking Arabic lessons over the past six months, and he was mortivated in part by a wish to be able to read the Koran in its original form.

If same-sex marriage becomes legal in the UK, and a future monarch of the country was (openly)  gay, and had a child in wedlock, should that child inherit the throne?

This, essentially, is the conundrum which was being debated by British lawmakers yesterday.

According to The Daily Telegraph, under the 18th Century laws governing the succession, only an “heir to the body” can succeed, and the paper says the "phrase was intended to mean direct biological descendents of the monarch."

But then again, they didn't really have AI, surrogacy and cloning to contend with back then, did they?

How does she find the time to write her cookery column for Waitrose magazine, that's what people will be asking.

Pippa Middleton hit the Cheltenham races in England today, just days after she was photographed kissing her new boyfriend Nico Jackson on the Alpine ski slopes.

But she wasn't with Nico today. Insead there was another male friend, investment banker Tom Kingston, an old pal, to escort her.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia beheaded seven men for armed robbery, including two who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime. At the last minute, it was generously decided not to crucify the victims after their deaths.

Tomorrow, Prince Charles will visit Saudi Arabia.

Unsurprisingly, the Prince is now being urged to make a public expression of concern at the lamentable human rights record in the country.

Last week the UN warned that that the number of refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria has already reached a million and warned that: ‘Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster.’

Today, a clearly shocked Prince Charles and Camilla came face to face with many of those who have been most savagely affected by the conflict, thousands of refugees subsiting in a Jordanian refugee camp in the desert.