The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby, St James’s Palace has announced.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and members of both families are delighted with the news, said a spokesman. But St James’s Palace said in a statement that Kate had been admitted to a private hospital for treatment for a severe form of morning sickness known as hyperemesis gravidarum.
St James’s Palace said in the statement: “The Duchess was admitted this afternoon to King Edward VII Hospital in central London with hyperemesis gravidarum. As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter.”
St James’s Palace would not confirm when the royal couple became aware of the pregnancy, only saying “recently”.
It is understood that the pregnancy has not passed the 12-week point and yesterday’s announcement was prompted by the Duchess’s medical condition.
Hyperemesis gravidarum is a rare condition that causes severe vomiting during pregnancy.
The severity of the vomiting can cause dehydration, weight loss and a build-up of toxins in the blood or urine called ketosis.
It affects 3.5 per 1,000 pregnant women and can cause women to vomit blood. Symptoms also include severe nausea, low blood pressure and fast heart rate, headaches, lethargy or confusion.
Hyperemesis gravidarum is treated by giving women fluids intravenously and by anti-sickness tablets. The condition usually continues past the first three months of pregnancy and can pass by week 21, but may also last longer.
A spokeswoman at Kate’s old prep school, St Andrew’s in Pangbourne, Berkshire – where she showed off her hockey skills last week in an Alexander McQueen frockcoat and three-inch-high calf-length boots – said they had “no inkling at all” that she was expecting.
Kate’s visit to her old prep school on Friday afternoon was her last public engagement. She appeared well and even had lunch at the school with pupils and staff during the two-hour visit.
So her condition may have developed over the weekend and it is likely she was taken to hospital yesterday in the afternoon after seeking medical advice.
Hyperemesis gravidarum can be serious but Kate was driven to the King Edward VII Hospital in a car and not an ambulance. The Duchess had a number of engagements this week, including a visit to London’s Docklands on Wednesday for a charity fundraising session on a brokers’ trading floor, but they have all been cancelled, said St James’s Palace.
St James’s Palace confirmed that William was by his wife’s side in hospital yesterday but would not comment on whether he travelled with her to hospital. Kate made the journey from Bucklebury in Berkshire, where her parents Michael and Carole Middleton live, and it is thought she spent the weekend with them.