When people ask Kate Middleton, “Are you having a boy or a girl?” do you think she screws up her features and replies, “I hope so,” with a sarcastic face?
Probably not, because she's far too polite, but you wouldn’t blame the girl would you?
Then again, the British public do have a pretty good excuse for being so interested. Its not pure prurience. The sex of a first born royal baby has for many centuries been a constituional matter of pivotal importance to the future of the monarchy and the state, and although the laws of succession have now been changed, meaning that whatever the gender of the baby, it will become third in line to the throne after William, old habits die hard.
The latest gender-speculation comes via the Mirror which carried an entertaining report at the weekend which covered all (OK, both) bases by starting out saying that Harry had been “telling everyone” that Wills and Kate are “having a boy” and that the close inner circle “all know that it’s a boy” but concluded with quotes from ‘another insider’ who said: “Even though there’s a lot of gossip doing the rounds, there’s no way anyone can confirm it at the moment. It’s people being mischievous and winding each other up.”
For the record, the Royalist has been told by his sources that William and Kate actually do not know the sex of the baby and want it to be a surprise.
At the beginning of the year you may recall that there was considerable speculation that Kate was having a girl, after she allegedly accepted a teddy bear from a crowd member with the words “I’ll keep that for my d..”
But the “d-“ theory was upended somewhat when subsequent video posted carried by the Royalist appeared to show quite clearly that Kate said, “Is that for ... aaah...” a common enough reaction when you are given your ten thousandth synthetic teddy bear by a member of the great unwashed.
Kate subsequently sowed some crafty confusion by telling soldiers at Aldershot after the St Patrick Day parade that she was hoping for a boy, but William wanted a girl, but since then there has been one further bit of boy-baby evidence – strictly circumstantial – in the news that Kate bought a pale blue Bugaboo.
Old wives also say that Kate’s ‘tidy’ bump suggests she is having a boy, although there is no clinicaly proven evidence that you can judge a baby’s sex by the shape of the pregnant belly.
The bookies are still reporting more money for a girl than a boy, so following the money would suggest a female child.