The 'great Kate wait' continues with royal baby expected any day now

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Queue here for the Royal baby: ROBERT HARDMAN joins the world's camera crews (and even some very patient monarchists) outside Kate's hospital​

Andy Murray had yet to hit a single Wimbledon ball when Pat and Norman Bate left home to catch a glimpse of the Royal Baby.

In fact, the football season was still in full swing, Britain was freezing and the Duchess of Cambridge was out and about meeting the public.​

It has taken Pat and Norman two months to get to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. But then, the retired fruit and veg merchants did travel from their Liverpool home to London via Britain’s canal network (maximum speed: 4mph). ​

Now, their 55ft canal boat Ellie May is moored just behind the royal hospital — right next to Sir Richard Branson’s houseboat, no less — with bunting draped over the cabin and a bagful of cards and presents for the royal baby ready and waiting. Pat’s sister, Flo, has even knitted a pretty white jacket for the new third-in-line to the Throne.​


Welcome to ladder land: The media circus outside the entrance to the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in central London, where the Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth​

‘As soon as we heard Kate was pregnant, I said that we should aim to get there for the birth, so we left home on May 1,’ explains Pat. ‘And we hope to be here as long as it takes. After all, we’re not paying for a hotel.’ ​

That’s the thing about royal births. They require a very dedicated breed of ‘royal-watcher’. ​


Weddings, jubilees and funerals might all involve camping out for a night or two in order to secure a prime position, but at least you know when the action is due to start. A royal birth is an emphatically private event — and one whose timing is impossible to predict. ​


Dedication: Pat and Norman Bate who have sailed down from Liverpool on their narrowboat on Britain's canal network to be near the hospital for the Royal birth. With a top speed of 4mph the journey took two months ​


As the wait goes on, the camera crews have been reduced to filming each other and reporters from around the world have been struggling to find something worthwhile to report​

All of a flutter: Odds are being taken on the sex and name of the Royal baby, with Alexandra being the favourite if it's a girl and James being the favourite if it's a boy​






 
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