After almost three weeks of tedium, the press pack stationed outside the Lindo Wing at the Paddington hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth will jump at anything.
On Friday afternoon the eager royal baby watch crowd were given a practice run when William and Kate lookalikes entered the front door of the private wing.
The woman sporting a baby bump and the Duchess’s signature hair style emerged from a black Range Rover outside the Lindo Wing’s front entrance with a slightly balding and sensibly dressed tall male accomplice, sending royal reporters and camera crews amassed across the road into a right royal frenzy.
Sceptics wouldn’t be had, with commentators like Sky News royal correspondent Paul Harrison pointing out it would be “highly unlikely” for William and Kate to enter the site of the royal birth through the front door.
The doubters were quickly proven right as it was revealed the pair had been recruited by The Sun newspaper.
The tabloid is crowing over the stunt with the Saturday edition’s front page headline screaming “It’s a ploy!”.
The press pack were nonetheless kept on their toes when shortly after the prank reports emerged that a helicopter was headed from Bucklebury, Berkshire where the Duchess is reported to be holed up in her family’s country home.
The reports caused some to jump to conclusions that the Duchess was being transported to either Kensington Palace or the hospital where she is due to deliver the heir to the throne.
Conflicting reports that Kate had made her way from her parents’ mansion by car or helicopter, and with or without William, were quickly quashed for their inconsistencies, and royal officials refused to comment on speculation.
The Palace has again confirmed they will send a notification once the Duchess “has been safely admitted to hospital”, and details of the birth will be announced on a sign erected outside Buckingham Palace shortly following the young royal’s arrival.
Until then, any guesswork over the royal couple’s whereabouts and rumours over their birth plan remain just that, but it’s unlikely speculation will cease as the great Kate wait continues.
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