Kate Middleton's Post-Baby Diet, and Other Juicy Scoops
AND FUTURE KING MAKES THREE The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London …
There was much about the birth of George Alexander Louis, third in line to the British throne, that his parents couldn't control: the timing, the media frenzy, the weight of history. But judging by the decisions Prince William and Kate did make in their son's first weeks, he'll get the best of two very different worlds. In an adaptation from her latest royal biography, Katie Nicholl provides an inside look at the brand-new family.
There was much about the birth of George Alexander Louis, third in line to the British throne, that his parents couldn't control: the timing, the media frenzy, the weight of history. But judging by the decisions Prince William and Kate did make in their son's first weeks, he'll get the best of two very different worlds. In an adaptation from her latest royal biography, Katie Nicholl provides an inside look at the brand-new family.
The manicured lawn of the Middleton family
estate was the perfect retreat. Here the proud mother of the new third
in line to the throne was free to roam as she pleased without fear of
being spied on. The baby-blue Bugaboo pram Kate
revealed she had bought weeks before the birth, along with a fully
furnished nursery, had been set up at the Manor, the family's 18-acre
estate, on the outskirts of Bucklebury, a sleepy village in the middle of the Berkshire countryside where Kate grew up, 50 miles from Buckingham Palace.
Surrounded by lush green fields and protected from the outside world by
high oak trees and an impenetrable security system, it was like a
fortress. Here, cocooned by her family, Kate felt safer than anywhere
else in the world.
The Cambridges had arrived in Bucklebury when their son, Prince George Alexander Louis,
was just two days old, and for the first few weeks they barely stepped
out the front door. The Middleton family home had been a haven for the
couple from the intense media attention surrounding the royal birth. Not
only did Kate have to cope with the anxiety of labor for the first time
but she was also managing the hopes and expectations of an excited
nation.
From the moment the Palace
announced the pregnancy, in December, speculation about when the baby
was due, the sex, potential names, and where he or she might have been
conceived dominated column inches worldwide. One British newspaper
reported that the royal baby was due on July 13, while another claimed
the due date was July 19. The Palace
declined to comment, but since the end of June the media had been
assembling outside the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital, in Paddington,
in northwest London, where, aides had confirmed, Kate would be giving
birth. It was one of the hottest summers in England on record, and as
the mercury soared into the 90s the ongoing story known in the media as
"the Great Kate Wait" monopolized the news headlines. The merest hint of
activity fueled a frenzy of rumors that Kate had gone into labor. When a
helicopter landed at Kensington Palace or a police car swept through Bucklebury,
the cameras were ready to roll, and newsdesks around the world were on
red alert. False reports that the Duchess had gone into labor sent the
Twitter-sphere into a meltdown on more than one occasion.
When William
played in a charity polo match in Gloucestershire on July 13 there was
speculation that the media might have been misinformed about the due
date. By the following weekend, there was still no announcement from the
Palace. It wasn't just the hot and flustered media throng that was
growing impatient. Prince Charles and Camilla continued their
engagements around the country and admitted to well-wishers that they
were "all waiting at the end of the telephone," while the Queen told one
little girl during a walkabout at Lake Windermere, in Cumbria, that she
hoped the royal baby would "hurry up" because she was planning to go to
Balmoral for her annual vacation.
In mid-July, at a Coronation Festival concert at Buckingham Palace, Kate's mother, Carole Middleton,
who was with her husband in the royal box, was overheard telling a
guest that the baby was "coming soon, but not this weekend." Meanwhile,
Kate was at home in Bucklebury watching DVD boxed sets on the sofa.
Friends came to visit, and the rest of the time Kate was reported to
have practiced prenatal yoga. She kept cool by going for frequent dips
in the swimming pool as well as taking walks around the grounds. While
she had made every effort to look immaculate during her pregnancy, at
home she could relax in a loose-fitting dress and no makeup.
By Saturday, July 20, Kate and William had decided to move back to Kensington Palace
in order to be close to the hospital. It was hot and uncomfortable for
Kate in their small cottage where fans had been installed in every room
due to the lack of air-conditioning. William had hunted out some of his
old childhood toys from the attic at Highgrove-he was keen to find his
favorite teddy bear, called Wombat (his own childhood nickname)-and
their spare room was turned into a makeshift nursery complete with a
changing station and a Moses basket. Carole had taken care of
everything, even helping Kate to prepare a hospital bag, complete with a
pretty white-and-green bird-print Aden and Anais swaddling muslin.
Apart from the baby-blue carriage, most of the baby clothes and nursery
furniture were in gender-neutral shades of cream. Courtiers insisted the
pair had not found out the sex of their unborn baby, and friends close
to the couple claim William wanted a surprise. Although Kate apparently
suspected it was a boy and had set her heart on the name Alexander,
they had not yet decided what to call their firstborn. Kate was
reported to have affectionately referred to her bump as "our little
grape" while she was pregnant, and there was a flurry of betting on
possible names. "When I saw William a few weeks before the birth he said
they didn't know [the baby's gender] and didn't want to find out," says
a friend. "He said there are so few surprises in life-this was one he
wanted to keep. Kate said she thought it was a boy because the baby
kicked so much."
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