After months of speculation, the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant with her second child and now the tabloids and avid royal watchers alike have the chance to canvas the evidence which suggested the spare to the heir was coming soon.
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The old school friend
A week before Prince George's first birthday rumours began swirling that the Duchess was expecting after an old friend, Jessica Hay spoke to New Idea suggesting, "Kate's inner circle are buzzing with the news that she is pregnant," she said.
Ms Hay, who once shared a school dorm with Catherine when they were 14 and is not in the royal couple's inner circle of friends, also pointed out, "Kate's face has been looking fuller once again, and she's changed up her hair to hide it."
At the time the British press were growing frustrated with their lack of access to William and Catherine.
"Remarkably – although not surprisingly, given recent form – no photographers or journalists have been invited to record this charity event," the Daily Mail's royal editor Rebecca English tweeted regarding a cricket match William was hosting at Windsor Castle to raise awareness for United for Wildlife.
William's new job
A month before announcing the news that Prince George will become a big brother, Kensington Palace announced Prince William, a former pilot in the Royal Air Force, had a new job as a helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, about 200 kilometres away from London but close to the couple's newly renovated country residence, Anmer House. Both William and Catherine are fans of country living, and were reportedly keen to stay on the remote Welsh island of Anglesey (where they lived for three years during William's time in the Air Force), but returned to London shortly before the birth of Prince George in 2013.
Catherine's hair and clothes
During her last public appearance on August 5 at the Tower of London to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I, the Duchess' usually fawn locks appeared to be turning several shades of grey – a sign the 32-year-old either missed an appointment with her colourist or had begun relaxing her regular root maintenance and avoiding hair dye which many pregnant women do.
While she was officially declared a style icon in June after landing a place on Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed list, since returning from the tour of Australia and New Zealand in April, she has only debuted one new outfit throughout the entire European summer – a coral dress by Goat. A sensible sartorial choice for a woman expecting to expect perhaps?
The palace will not confirm how far along in her second pregnancy she is, however reports suggest Cambridge number two is due in April or May next year.
