We're thrilled! Now I'm off to look after Kate: William's delight and worry over sick wife after couple announce they are expecting a second child in the spring



Kate, 32, mother to Prince George, one, is expecting a child next year

Prince William spoke openly yesterday of his concern for poorly wife

Kate is again suffering from 'super sickness' hyperemesis gravidarum

She did not accompany William on an engagement in Oxford yesterday

Last pictured in public at King's Cross Station little more than week ago



The Cambridges have long spoken of their desire to extend their family

Prince Harry expressed his delight - but couldn't resist a dig at brother

It comes about six weeks after Prince George celebrated first birthday





Prince William spoke openly yesterday of his concern for his poorly wife – just hours after royal officials were forced to announce that the couple are expecting their second child in the spring.

The Duchess of Cambridge is today being cared for by doctors at the couple’s Kensington Palace apartment after suffering from a debilitating bout of hyperemesis gravidarum.

It is the same extreme sickness that blighted the early weeks of her pregnancy with Prince George, now 13 months old.

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Parents in waiting: A delighted William is pictured in Oxford, left, after officials announced he and his wife are expecting their second child. Right, the Duchess of Cambridge is already mother to one-year-old Prince George



Four years older than George: William speaks to five-year-old Bethlily Barton as he arrived in Oxford yesterday

Faces in the crowd: Kate is pictured carrying her bags with William and Lupo at King's Cross on August 29

After an engagement at Oxford University, William said: ‘She’s feeling okay. It’s been a tricky few days – [well] week or so – but obviously we are basically thrilled. It’s great news [but] early days. We’re hoping things settle down and she feels a bit better.’

He added: ‘I’m going to go and look after her now.’

Kate, 32, was last pictured in public little more than a week ago, arriving at King’s Cross Station with William and their dog Lupo after a break in Norfolk. The duchess, by then in the early stages of pregnancy, was laden down with bags.

She is now little more than six to eight weeks into her second pregnancy – well below the 12-week ‘safe’ point at which mothers-to-be traditionally announce that they are expecting. The new baby is due in the spring, around April.

Only a handful of the couple’s closest family and aides – including the Queen and the Middletons – had been told of the news, and only then because her sickness came on again so quickly.

Energetic: Kate joins in a game leaping over tins in Glasgow on July 29 (left. Her last public engagement was at the Tower of London on August 5 (right)



The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George arrive at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport on a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during the tenth day of their official tour to New Zealand and Australia

Smiles: Prince Harry beamed at the news he is to be an uncle again as he arrived to welcome Invictus Games competitors to London - although he did take some delight in the trials awaiting his elder brother

By Sunday afternoon, however, it had become apparent that she was in no fit state to continue with the busy programme of public engagements planned this week.

Staff were informed that she would have to pull out of yesterday’s high-profile visit to Oxford University with her husband to open a centre devoted to the study of China, a country the couple have been mooted to visit next year.

University officials were made aware of the development shortly before 10am yesterday, but not told why until the media had been informed just over 15 minutes later.

A source said: ‘They really didn’t want to make this news public so soon. The duchess is not even 12 weeks pregnant yet.

Happy man: The Duke of Cambridge formally opens The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building yesterday, on the morning of the announcement of his second child with the Duchess of Cambridge

Gesturing: Prince William was clearly a happy man - and said the couple were 'thrilled' at the news ‘But when it became clear that she would not be able to attend the visit and that a number of forthcoming engagements would be affected, the duke and duchess made the difficult decision to be fully open about the pregnancy. ‘It wasn’t a decision they were comfortable with having to make but they felt they couldn’t just keep saying all week that she was ill.’ Indeed the Mail understands that although she has not been hospitalised at this stage, the symptoms Kate is suffering are ‘just as severe’ as those she had before.

Flags: The Duke said his wife may be over the worst of her very acute morning sickness in a 'few weeks' time' All smiles: William is seen chatting with St Hugh's College pupils before being shown the China Centre building Waving to well-wishers: The Duke of Cambridge walks in Oxford today with Dame Elish Angiolini (right) In good spirits: The Duke is handed a bouquet of flowers (left) and walks with Dame Angiolini (right) today

In December 2012, she spent three nights in the King Edward VII private hospital in London after being admitted with severe dehydration caused by her sickness. Staff treated her with fluids administered through a drip. The development forced the royal household to announce news of her first pregnancy several weeks earlier than planned. This time Kate is being treated at home, presumably because doctors were able to intervene at an earlier stage due to her history.

On his own: It became apparent that the Duchess was no well enough to join the Duke on a joint engagement in Oxford today, a senior royal source told MailOnline

Cutting the ribbon: The Duke formally opens the Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building Better get used to babies: Prince Harry meets a competitor's baby as he watches the USA wheelchair basketball team at an Invictus Games training session Hi there: Prince Harry receives a traditional Maori greeting during a visit to meet the New Zealand Invictus Games team at New Zealand House today As he toured the new Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre building yesterday, William, 32, was clearly uncomfortable having had to make news of his wife’s pregnancy public so soon. He tried to play down the development, telling reporters: ‘It’s important that we focus on the big news, the big international and domestic thing going on at the moment.’ But he graciously – and clearly happily – accepted the good wishes of members of the public. Bethlily Barton, five, presented him with some flowers to take home to Kate and a toy swan. ‘It was a present for George, I didn’t know they were having another baby,’ she said. Baby butterflies: A photo to mark Prince George's first birthday at the Natural History Museum in London Her father, Stuart McPherson, added: ‘It’s wonderful news. He was great with Bethlily and I think he will be a wonderful father second time round.’ In a statement, Kensington Palace said: ‘Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their second child. ‘The Queen and members of both families are delighted.’ Home: Members of the press gather outside the couple's home in Kensington Palace following the announcement Happy: Kate claps from the Royal Box during the men's final at Wimbledon in south-west London on July 6

Out and about: Kate and William watch riders at the finish line of Stage 1 of the Tour De France in Harrogate on July 5 (left). Kate is also pictured leaving the Blessed Sacrament School in London on July 1 after a visit (right)

The new baby will be fourth in line to the throne – shunting Harry down to fifth. But the prince, who celebrates his 30th birthday next week, seemed far from bothered at the thought of being another step away from becoming king. When this was pointed out to him yesterday he grinned and joked: ‘Great!’

Anyone for tennis? Kate and William watch a men's quarter-final match at Wimbledon on July 2 'I'm delighted': Prime Minister David Cameron has offered his congratulations to the Duke and Duchess Statement: Clarence House said in a tweet that the Queen and members of both families were 'delighted' 'SUPER SICKNESS': HYPEREMESIS GRAVIDARUM EXPLAINED Hyperemesis gravidarum afflicts one pregnancy in 50 and is much more serious than the nausea commonly experienced by expectant mothers.

The condition can lead to severe dehydration and puts both mother and baby at risk of being deprived of essential nutrients.

Sufferers can be left vomiting up to 30 times a day, with exhausting and hazardous consequences.

They cannot eat or drink without retching and may lose up to 10 per cent of their body weight, which can trigger a build-up of toxins in the blood or urine known as ketosis as the body tries to compensate for lack of food by mouth.

Hospital treatment for these women is essential, as without intravenous feeding and fluids they are at risk of becoming dangerously dehydrated.

The condition is thought to be caused by elevated levels of ‘pregnancy hormone’ HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, which increases after conception.

Miss Leila Hanna, consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician at Queen Mary's Hospital in London and BMI The Sloane Hospital told MailOnline: 'The condition is extremely common in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. 'It is associated with the changes in hormonal levels in the body, where the pregnancy hormones are quite high and it is the effect of those on the expectant mother. 'If anything it is associated with a normal, healthy pregnancy. Every so often, in extreme cases it is necessary to scan the mother to see if she could be expecting twins. 'In twins expectant mothers experience twice the hormones, and so often twice the sickness.'

But Miss Hanna moved to dispel the idea the royal couple could be preparing to welcome twins, saying it is 'highly likely' Kate will have already been scanned.

She said the condition is usually diagnosed around the six-week mark and in most cases carries on until 12 weeks.



Royal baby will be fourth in line to the throne

As a sibling to Prince George, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's second child will not be expected to be crowned sovereign.

But second-born royal children - often dubbed the 'spare to heir' - have on occasion ended up as monarch.

The country's last king, George VI, was not meant to accede to the throne and only did so when his older brother Edward VIII abdicated over his love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson in 1936.

Flashback: The Duke and Duchess leave St Mary's Hospital in London with newborn George on July 23, 2013 Once the baby arrives, Prince Harry (left) will shift down the line of succession to fifth in line to the throne

George VI's father, George V, was also not destined to wear the crown. But he outlived his older brother the Duke of Clarence and Avondale - Prince Albert Victor - who died from flu in 1892. George V became king in 1910.

COUPLE FREE TO FOCUS ON FAMILY The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been allowed the space to focus on their family in the early years of their marriage after lessons were learned in previous royal marriages, a social historian has suggested. Judith Rowbotham, founder of the Solon academic network, said the couple were enjoying the freedom of not being full-time royals as they looked forward to having two youngsters under the age of two. Dr Rowbotham said: ‘We know that the royal family, who badly need this to be a marriage that works, are giving all the space they possibly can to the Cambridges.’ She added: ‘The Prince and Princess of Wales from the start did a huge amount of royal duties. But lessons have been learnt. They're going to leave this particular royal couple to sort it out themselves.’ The Duke is set to become an air ambulance pilot next spring when he will join the East Anglian Air Ambulance. William, Kate and George are expected to spend much of their time enjoying the sanctuary of their newly renovated countryside home Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate. Dr Rowbotham said: ‘The improving health of the Duke of Edinburgh has very likely meant that, instead of stepping up to the plate, instead of taking on more royal duties, there is a little slack for the Cambridges to stay, not exactly in the background, but as not quite full-time royals. The Queen still treasures and feels that the early years of her marriage when she did have the space to grow her family, first Charles, then Anne, were hugely important to the enduring years of her marriage. ‘There's sensitivity after the breakdown of three of the Queen's children's marriages.’



William and Kate's new baby will be a great-grandchild to the Queen and a great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Once he or she arrives, Prince Harry will shift down the line of succession to fifth in line to the throne, while the Duke of York will move to sixth place and princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to seventh and eighth.

When it was put to Harry today that the new addition to the royal family would further reduce his own chances of being King, he laughed and replied: 'Great!'



The baby will be a prince or princess thanks to the Queen, who stepped in ahead of Prince George's birth to ensure all William's children would become HRHs with fitting titles.

The Queen issued a Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm in December 2012 when Kate was just a few months' pregnant, declaring 'all the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of royal highness with the titular dignity of prince or princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour'.

A Letters Patent in 1917, issued by George V, limited titles within the royal family, meaning a daughter born to William or Kate would not have been an HRH but Lady (forename) Mountbatten-Windsor instead and a second-born son would also have lacked the HRH title and become Lord (forename) Mountbatten-Windsor rather than a prince.

William's cousin Princess Eugenie, who was born in 1990, was the last royal baby to be given the title Princess.



The Earl and Countess of Wessex's daughter Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor is also technically a princess, but her parents decided, with the Queen's agreement, that she would use the courtesy title of the daughter of an Earl instead.

If the baby is a girl, it will be the first time a great granddaughter of a still-serving sovereign has been born in direct succession on the male line since 1897, when George VI's sister Princess Mary was born.

EXPLAINED: THE 'BIGGEST NOVELTY BETTING MARKET OF THE YEAR'

From baby names to hair colour and birth date... money has already begun to change hands over almost every conceivable aspect of the royal birth.

Odds on baby name (from Coral) IF IT'S A GIRL

5-1 Alexandra

6-1 Elizabeth

7-1 Diana

7-1 Victoria

14-1 Georgia

16-1 Mary

20-1 Frances

20-1 Alice

25-1 Harriet

25-1 Pippa

25-1 Catherine

IF IT'S A BOY

3-1 James

6-1 Alexander

10-1 Louis

14-1 Henry

14-1 Albert

16-1 Richard

16-1 Arthur

25-1 Phillip

33-1 Edward

33-1 Spencer

33-1 Alfred Bookmakers have described it as ‘the biggest novelty betting market of the year’, with odds even being offered on the likelihood of the royals becoming new parents to triplets.

Although the due date has not been made public, William Hill have odds of 16/1 that the brother or sister to Prince George, who celebrated his first birthday in July, will be born on April 21 - the Queen's birthday.

Meanwhile Paddy Power are offering 6/4 that the baby's hair will be brown, ahead of fair (5/2), red (3/1) or black (5/1).

Punters anticipating the royal household will swell by more than just one are being offered odds of 33/1 for twins and 250/1 for triplets.

A spokesman for the bookmaker said: ‘If there's one thing that baby George taught us it's that the British public love a punt on a Royal offspring and we're bracing ourselves for another baby betting bonanza.

‘Money is already pouring in by the pram-load and we expect this to be the biggest novelty betting market of the year.’

Speculation also includes any names for the new baby. Current front-runners include regal favourites Elizabeth, Henry and Victoria at 10/1 with Paddy Power, and Alexander and James at 9/1 with William Hill.

Joe Crilly, William Hill spokesman, said: ‘Last time around, we took over half a million pounds on the royal baby and we fully expect that once again the British public will all have their own opinions on whether a boy or girl is on the way.’