Kate Middleton To Give Birth To The Royal Baby At Royal Berkshire, And Not St Mary’s?

While the media await the news of Kate Middleton’s delivery outside St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, new reports suggest that the Duchess of Cambridge might instead have the baby 40 miles away, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

While Middleton intends to give birth to the future heir to the throne at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s, a contingency plan is in place with the Royal Berkshire Hospital as a possibility, The Telegraph said, citing a royal source.

“There are contingencies in place for wherever the Duchess happens to be, and one of them is the Royal Berkshire. It is still a possibility that she could give birth there, though that would only be in extremis, as the expectation is that she will go to St Mary’s,” the royal source told the Telegraph.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital is where Middleton, who is currently living with her parents in Bucklebury, was born in 1982, and it is less than a 30-minute drive from her parents’ home, the report noted. On the other hand, St Mary's Hospital is about 52 miles from her parents' house, where Middleton is reported to be currently staying.

Because the hospital does not have a private maternity ward, Middleton would have to spend the night with other new mothers if she gives birth at the Royal Berkshire, according to the Telegraph.

Announcing Middleton’s pregnancy late last year, Buckingham Palace said that the Duchess of Cambridge is due to deliver the baby in mid-July, and refrained from giving an exact due date. Initial reports predicted Kate to give birth on July 13, and now, July 19 has been touted as a possible due date.

Early this week, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, expressed hope that the baby might be due sometime at the end of the week.

Talking to well-wishers at the Little Harbour children’s hospice at Porthpean in Cornwall, Camilla said that they are “all just waiting by the telephone. We are hopeful that by the end of the week he or she will be here,” the Daily Mail reported.