Paper Monitor
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
It's day two of the royal baby news carnival (see Tuesday's Paper Monitor).
Anyone thinking that the papers will have run out of things to say about a tiny being that measures just 1.6cm - assuming the duchess is indeed about eight weeks pregnant - is sorely mistaken.
The Daily Mail alone devotes pages one to nine to the news.
Those that didn't speculate on possible names yesterday have done so today.
- the Times
And what she should eat to help combat morning sickness:
- ginger biscuits, says the Daily Telegraph
- sip hot water, says a Times letter writer
- mash, says , who also suffered hyperemesis gravidarum
The Telegraph also runs a . Needless to say, it mentions Smythson notebooks, "buggies that cost as much as cars", aromatherapy and Gwyneth Paltrow.
And then there are the questions of where they may live, whether Wills will be away a lot with work, and what the baby might look like:
gurgles the Telegraph. Given its oft-noted fondness for well-bred fillies that are long of leg and glossy of mane, it no doubt has every finger and toe crossed. A baby boffin from motherhood advice website Babycentre tells the paper:
"We keep a close eye on gender prediction studies and some of them would suggest the Duchess has a 55% chance of having a girl, which is statistically significant."
So, there's pretty near a 50/50 chance that it'll be a girl. Like in most pregnancies.
The Daily Express devotes two pages to . Hmm. Loving, perhaps?
Then there's a commemorative tat.
The Times goes with but which Paper Monitor finds rather terrifying (Kate is strangely glassy-eyed, William has a brow last seen on a Frankenstein mask):
The traditional Christmas nativity scene craftsmen of Naples have proved yet again that they are quick off the mark by producing a statuette of a pregnant Duchess of Cambridge less than 24 hours after the announcement of the happy news.
Many others go with the mugs being churned out by British pottery firm Emma Bridgewater, purveyors of pricey retro-chic ceramics to the chattering classes.
And finally, the Independent - using their spoof royal correspondent - addresses the burning question of .
Their man "Talbot Church" (The man the Royals trustâ„¢) also reveals a #thingIdidntknowlastweek:
The Queen dislikes the word "pregnant", finding it vulgar and excessively graphic. Visitors to the palace are encouraged to use the expression "in the family way".
Rather sad that it's a wind-up.