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Royal baby live: Duchess of Cambridge's due date approaches as superfans camp outside Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital ahead of birth

The scene is set outside the hospital where Prince George was born two years ago

Adam Withnall
Wednesday 22 April 2015 16:08 BST
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Prince William and Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge hold the Prince of Cambridge as he makes his first public appearance on 23 July 2013 (AP)
Prince William and Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge hold the Prince of Cambridge as he makes his first public appearance on 23 July 2013 (AP)

Royal baby fans have started to gather outside the private wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, where it is expected the Duchess of Cambridge will give birth to her second royal baby.

The royals have kept details of her due date deliberately vague, only confirming that it is from "mid-April to the end of April".

Anticipation has not reached quite the same pitch as for the couple's first child, and police and officials are stage-managing the process much more tightly.

In a bid to avoid the weeks-long scrum that emerged outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary's in 2013, the public and media have been told they will only be allowed into the already-assembled pens once a royal announcement has been made confirming the Duchess is inside.

Until then, fans have been left to speculate on everything from the baby's gender to exciting dates with which the birth might coincide. Some thought it might share a birthday with the Queen on 21 April. Others hoped that it be born on the Duke and Duchess’s fourth wedding anniversary, 29 April.

Royal fans Maria Scott and John Loughrey pose for a photograph outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London, Monday, April 20, 2015

And some particularly cruel punters are predicting a news singularity - a (admittedly late) royal baby born on the day of the general election, 7 May.

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