Kate Middleton In Labor, 3rd Royal Baby Coming On St. George’s Day

The United Kingdom is eagerly awaiting for the arrival of royal baby number three as the Duchess of Cambridge went into the early stages of labor Monday. The news was confirmed by Kensington Palace on its official Twitter account.

The Duchess was driven from her official residence at Kensington Palace to the private wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in central London at around 6 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. EST) on Monday, which also happens to be St. George’s Day.

The news of Middleton going into labor on St. George’s Day came just a few days after royal correspondent Emily Andrews said that the Duchess could give birth on April 23. During one of her appearances on “Lorraine,” a lifestyle and entertainment show, Andrews reportedly said Middleton would give birth to her third child on the feast day of England’s patron saint. 

“The date is first calculated by using the date of [a woman’s] last period and adding 280 days or 40 weeks… She was late with George and Charlotte but I would imagine the baby will be arriving in the last week of April,” she said.

Apart from Andrews, Jessica Bridges of Ladbrokes was also apparently convinced that Middleton would give birth on St. George’s Day. 

“It would be such a wonderful coincidence if Kate was to give birth on St. George’s Day, and patriotic punters forced us to cut the odds on the newest member of the Royal family entering the world on April 23rd,” she said.

The excitement and anticipation surrounding the arrival of the royal baby has been tremendous. 

Reports state that a royal insider also weighed in on the atmosphere within the royal family. “Kate is now officially on maternity leave until the autumn and looking forward to welcoming the new baby. The whole family is excited, including the children, who are very much aware that they are about to welcome a new brother or sister,” they said. 

The Duchess, who announced her pregnancy in September 2017 will give birth to her third child soon, who will be fifth in line to the British throne after its grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and its two older siblings.

Kate Middleton went into early labor, Kensington Palace confirmed Monday. In this photo, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge waves from her car as she leaves after the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, April 1, 2018. Photo: Getty Images / WPA Pool

Both Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born in the Lindo Wing in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Their father William was also born at the same facility.

At the start of her pregnancy, Kensington Palace had confirmed that the Duchess was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, severe morning sickness. At the time, a source close to Middleton said that though the royal had a difficult time in her first trimester, she eventually began to feel better.

“She has such a rotten time during these early months but she’s out of the woods now and doing well. I think when you see it referred to as extreme morning sickness you don’t quite understand how debilitating it can be, but it truly is a grueling condition and can make it impossible to do anything else. All you can do is just rest. It requires constant medical care and can be a worrying time for any mum-to-be,” the source said.

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Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam jailed in Belgium

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Belgian/French police

Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect from the 2015 Paris attacks, has been jailed for 20 years in Belgium over a gunfight that led to his arrest.

Abdeslam, 28, and co-defendant Sofien Ayari were both convicted of terror-related charges of attempted murder.

Ayari, 24, was also given a 20-year sentence. Both fired on officers who raided a flat in Brussels in 2016.

He is being held in a jail in France and is due to face trial there over the Paris attacks themselves.

• Five things about Salah Abdeslam
• Who were the Paris attackers?
• Paris attacks: What happened on the night

He had refused to answer questions from the judge in the trial in Brussels, and eventually refused to attend the hearings.

Neither he nor Ayari, 24, was in court as the verdict was read out on Monday. Both received the maximum 20-year term requested by prosecutors.

The judge, Marie France Keutgen, said that “there can be no doubt” about the two men’s involvement with “radicalism”.

She added: “Their intention is clear from the nature of the weapons they used, the number of bullets they fired and the nature of the police officers’ wounds. Only the officers’ professional response prevented it being worse.”

What happened during the shootout and its aftermath?

On 15 March 2016, Belgian police hunting Abdeslam carried out a raid in the Forest area of Brussels.

They targeted a flat believing that the suspect – who by then had been on the run for four months – had been there.

When they moved in they exchanged fire with the three occupants. One of the three was killed and three officers were wounded.

Abdeslam and Ayari managed to escape, but Abdeslam’s fingerprints were found in the flat, confirming his presence there.

He was picked up days later in a raid in the nearby Molenbeek area, and later transferred to France.

• Is Molenbeek a hotbed of extremism?

What do we know about Abdeslam?

He was born in Brussels from Moroccan parents who also had French nationality. This allowed him to become French himself.

He was involved in petty crime in Belgium as a youth, and is believed to have become radicalised along with his brother Salim around 2014.

Both then reportedly joined a French-Belgian network linked with the Islamic State group (IS), which later claimed the Paris attacks.

The network was involved in both the Paris attacks and bombings that struck the Brussels metro and airport on 22 March 2016, just days after Abdeslam’s arrest, killing 35 people.

In Monday’s ruling, the court denied a request by victims from those attacks that they be regarded as a civil party to the case, saying no link had been established with Abdeslam and Ayari.

How has Abdeslam been linked to the Paris attacks?

He is believed to have played a key role on 13 November 2015 – when militants targeted a concert hall, stadium, restaurants and bars, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more.

French prosecutors believe Abdeslam helped the jihadists by hiring cars, flats and hotel rooms – although his role in the actual shootings and bombings is unclear.

His brother Salim was among the attackers and blew himself up outside a cafe.

Salah Abdeslam and two associates drove from Paris to Brussels the next day. They were stopped by police at a border check, but were allowed to travel as he had not yet been identified as a suspect.

French and Belgian authorities released Abdeslam’s photo and name a day later – by which time he was one of Europe’s top fugitives.

Several flats were raided by Belgian police over the next few months. He was finally picked up on 18 March 2016.

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