It's very clever...
Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde
Earlier this week, Kensington Palace revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child. Prince William and Kate Middleton are already parents to four-year-old Prince George and two-year-old Princess Charlotte, and the entire royal household is said to be very excited by the news.
Price William has already opened up about Kate's pregnancy, and Prince Harry admitted to Sky News: '[It's] fantastic, great! Very, very happy for them.’
However, one thing that many people couldn't get over was how Kate had managed to avoid any speculation over her pregnancy. In fact, she has been able to hide it from the public before the official announcements every time. In hindsight, we realise that Kate might have been hinting at pregnancy number three during her trip to Poland in July, but no one had any real clue that they were expecting when they shared their happy news.
And it seems that's all down to Kate's brilliant distraction technique. Eagle-eyed fans of the Duchess have noticed that just before every pregnancy announcement, Kate has changed her hair significantly. Many are applauding the clever way of getting everyone to focus on her head rather than any hint of a burgeoning bump.
One political reporter noted on Twitter: 'Pattern is Duchess of Cambridge changes her hairstyle, people concentrate on her head, then announces pregnancy.'
On June 29th this year, Kate's attended an event at the V&A showing off her light brown waves neatly pinned back. Nothing suspicious to see here...
However, a few days later she was spotted at Wimbledon sporting a much shorter, slightly darker 'do and no one could stop talking about it for weeks (she is a trend-setting royal, after all).
What followed a few weeks later? The announcement that she is pregnant with her third child.
But does this theory check out with her previous pregnancies? Let's take a look at the evidence...
Kate attended an event on 8th November 2012 with her famously long, wavy locks. A year and a half after her wedding to Prince William, the Duchess had already become synonymous with the perfectly blow-dried style. Attending an event at the University of St. Andrews, her shiny curls were nothing out of the ordinary.
By November 27th, she was suddenly debuting slightly lighter locks and a retro fringe, and everyone went wild for it.
Just days later, on 3rd December, William and Kate announced that they were pregnant with their first child.
And did she continue to use this distraction when she was pregnant with Princess Charlotte? Of course. During a trip to France on 5th July 2014, Kate's hair was perfectly styled and coloured as per usual.
However, a month later she sent shock waves around the world during a visit to the Tower of London because - shock horror - she had neglected her colouring upkeep and her roots were on show. Newsworthy? Definitely not. But did it distract the media? Yes.
Because just a few weeks after that, on September 8th, Kate announced her second pregnancy.
While we are all extremely excited to meet George and Charlotte's new sibling, Kate has been suffering from acute morning sickness in the same way that she did with her previous pregnancies. She was unable to attend an event earlier this week, and sadly couldn't make it to Prince George's first day of school.
The original statement revealed the news on Twitter, saying: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child.
‘Their royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child. The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news.
‘As with her previous two pregnancies, The Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Her Royal Highness will no longer carry out her planned engagement at the Homsey Road Children’s Centre in London today. The Duchess is being cared for at Kensington Palace.’
We wish Kate all the best, and once again - congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their happy news!