# Kate Middleton is pregnant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859 "2012-12-03T16:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/161 "2012-12-05T11:39:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I probably just misunderstood. But they made it clear this last time that it’s about to be passed pronto. Apparently, the New Zealand Government were tasked this time last year with getting all the letters of agreement from the Commonwealth Realms (the 16 countries of which the Queen is Head of State). I’ve heard they have now done this, so the law should pass smoothly. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/162 "2012-12-05T11:42:12Z")
When it is passed, (they _are_ speeding up the processing now!), it will be back dated to when they agreed to it, in principle, several months ago. So yes, it is already, sort of, a done deal. And, at the same time, they haven’t yet actually signed anything or passed anything. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/163 "2012-12-05T12:29:06Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Apparently, the New Zealand Government were tasked this time last year with getting all the letters of agreement from the Commonwealth Realms (the 16 countries of which the Queen is Head of State). I’ve heard they have now done this, so the law should pass smoothly. I bet it was those slackers in Tuvalu holding everything up. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/164 "2012-12-05T12:38:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I bet it was those slackers in Tuvalu holding everything up. No worries. The sea level will cover them up before long. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/165 "2012-12-05T12:44:50Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Since we are in tasteless speculation already, what happens if the little bundle of joy has, say, Downs? Has any thought been given to that sort of thing? The Royals are well practised in dealing with that sort of thing… [Prince John](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_John_of_the_United_Kingdom) [Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bowes-Lyon#Nerissa_and_Katherine_Bowes-Lyon) and possibly… [The Monster of Glamis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_of_Glamis) Hopefully your question will remain hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/166 "2012-12-05T12:45:34Z")
Now BBC is reporting the hospital Kate is staying in fell for a hoax telephone call today. Two DJs in Sydney, Australia called posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Sounds like they managed to wheedle some sort of confidential information. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/167 "2012-12-05T13:05:52Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Bollocks. We beat your sorry arses in 1745 so you do as you’re told. Or else become independent and have sod-all say in the nomenclature of foreign monarchs. 😛 😃 Foreign monarchs? Umm, you do know she’s [directly descended from James VI of Scotland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descendants_of_James_VI_and_I), don’t you? You lot were careless and let your own royals die out, so we lent you ours. But since I’m in a generous mood, you can keep her, if we can have Charles back. (Just because I quite like the idea of referring to him as Bonnie Prince Charlie). You can have Wills & Kate, but we bags Harry (drunk and ginger, definitely one of ours!) 😉 > [@Broomstick](#): > > How about because female fertility starts to fall after the mid-20’s (yes, really it does) and any women for whom bearing children is a high priority would do well to get serious about it by 30 at the latest. Kate is 30, correct? Waiting “a few years” would put her darn close to 35, which is an age where the risks for childbearing go up and fertility really starts to go down. /derailing to do a worried squeak, as a broody 35 year old! > [@Ximenean](#): > > Let’s cut the crap - do we get an extra bank holiday out of this or not? I like your priorities! > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Now BBC is reporting the hospital Kate is staying in fell for a hoax telephone call today. Two DJs in Sydney, Australia called posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Sounds like they managed to wheedle some sort of confidential information. Brilliant - wonder what they got? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/168 "2012-12-05T13:16:26Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Brilliant - wonder what they got? 🙂 [Here’s one report](http://www.tntmagazine.com/news/australia-news/aussie-radio-show-prank-call-kate-middletons-hospital-pretending-to-be-the-queen). ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/169 "2012-12-05T13:19:43Z")
Bet they’d love a little privacy! Will we really have to endure all these BS reports about every hiccup and discharge from the womb. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I heard one news reporter call fetus the future heir to the world? Twice, I might have misheard though… ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/170 "2012-12-05T13:26:20Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Talking of gory details in the tabloids, _The Sun_ today has a truly scary [mock-up](http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01631/Untitled-1_1631756a.jpg) of what said offspring might look like… So the father was either Jimmy Carr (left photo) or Phil Jupitus (right photo). Huh. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/171 "2012-12-05T13:38:43Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > So the father was either Jimmy Carr (left photo) or Phil Jupitus (right photo). Huh. The right photo has got to be ‘fathered by Shane Warne’… ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/172 "2012-12-05T13:49:16Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Now BBC is reporting the hospital Kate is staying in fell for a hoax telephone call today. Two DJs in Sydney, Australia called posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Sounds like they managed to wheedle some sort of confidential information. [I got this on my facebook feed](http://www.her.ie/media/ffs-radio-station-rings-kate-s-maternity-hospital-for-an-update-you-won-t-believe-what-happened-next-363644) -contains a VERY LOUD (well it nearly blew my eardrums out!) audio recording. I didn’t listen past the initial deafening blast, and my ears are still ringing… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/173 "2012-12-05T13:56:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Bollocks. We beat your sorry arses in 1745 so you do as you’re told. Or else become independent and have sod-all say in the nomenclature of foreign monarchs. > Foreign monarchs? Umm, you do know she’s directly descended from James VI of Scotland, don’t you? You lot were careless and let your own royals die out, so we lent you ours. Yeah, it seems to me that Scotland conquered England, not the other way around. The guy who was already King of Scotland remained King of Scotland, and also became King of England. That sounds like a conquest to me. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/174 "2012-12-05T14:10:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, it seems to me that Scotland conquered England, not the other way around. The guy who was already King of Scotland remained King of Scotland, and also became King of England. That sounds like a conquest to me. Yeah, those MacSaxe-Coburg-Gothas… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/175 "2012-12-05T14:29:28Z")
Well, when Labor is in government, the Scots do rule the nation. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/176 "2012-12-05T15:53:58Z")
I thought Julia Gillard was Welsh? ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/177 "2012-12-05T16:18:23Z")
[QUOTE=mascaroni] The Royals are well practised in dealing with that sort of thing… Prince John Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon and possibly… The Monster of Glamis Hopefully your question will remain hypothetical. [/QUOTE] Since none of your examples were direct heirs to the throne, my question still stands, given that the royals can hardly “disappear” a baby born under a modern media watch. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/178 "2012-12-05T17:03:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Here’s one report](http://www.tntmagazine.com/news/australia-news/aussie-radio-show-prank-call-kate-middletons-hospital-pretending-to-be-the-queen). 1. Great prank - kudos to the DJ’s for coming up with that on the fly - with no preparation whatsoever - and actually getting that far and that much info! Amazing! 2. What kind of crap security does the Royal Family have that would allow a couple of knuckleheaded DJ’s - from Australia no less - to do horrible fake imitation voices and get that kind of info from a hospital? 3. If I were in the Royal Family, I would fire everyone involved with security - and perhaps let the rest of the family know there is at least a “code word” to use when phoning in. Imagine if this had not been an “innocent” prank and been some kind of terrorist wanting to get info and asking the right questions: room number and location, doctor’s name, medications used, visiting hours, etc. You might as well have given them a map and time and method to cause the most damage. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/179 "2012-12-05T17:09:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, it seems to me that Scotland conquered England, not the other way around. The guy who was already King of Scotland remained King of Scotland, and also became King of England. That sounds like a conquest to me. No, try to keep up to speed. First off, an invite isn’t a conquest. More to the point is what came later. Less than a century on from Jamie One-And-Six - and having chopped the head off one Stuart for, inter alia, contracting some unholy deals with the Scots - we told James II to fuck off and got a nice Dutchman to come over and run the show. Some time _after_ that, the Scots got butthurt and tried to re-install the Stuarts two generations on from the one we kicked out. So we went up to Scotland and, in the immortal word of Billy Connolly, “beat the shit out of [them]”, and since then, they’ve been reduced to a land of soda made out of rust, novelty marmalades and, admittedly, the best whisky in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859/180 "2012-12-05T17:14:58Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Since none of your examples were direct heirs to the throne, my question still stands, given that the royals can hardly “disappear” a baby born under a modern media watch. I would guess in the modern age that if the child were severely disabled, that they’d pass him or her over for next in line, for someone who could perform the duties. Which are mostly ceremonial, and its quite possible that they could be done by someone with a mild case of Downs, but if they were severely disabled, they’d be removed from succession. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kate-middleton-is-pregnant/642859.md?page=10)