Last - Minute Dramas Kate's Baby Count Down

The family preps for their  big arrival!

With just weeks to go before she welcomes her third bundle of joy, the Duchess of Cambridge has attended her last official engagement and retreated to Kensington Palace to rest and relax as she waits for baby.

While Kate focuses on spending quality time with Prince George, four, and two-year-old Princess Charlotte before their baby sibling arrives later this month, Woman’s Day can reveal that “operation baby” is in full swing, with the duchess’ medical team and the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital on high alert.

“Nothing is left to chance when it comes to a royal baby,” an insider reveals. “Security does regular sweeps of the room, then it’s re-sealed each time with tamper-proof tape. It’s a high-security operation. Even the crawl space above the room is checked regularly.”

Yes, all across London and into West Berkshire, a so-called Kensington Palace “baby team” – including Kate’s mum Carole Middleton – is on high alert. As the 36-year-old duchess nears her due date, rumoured to be April 23, no aspect of baby Cambridge number three’s welcome is being ignored.

Kate and Prince William, 35, have even managed to convince obstetrician Alan Farthing – who presided over both George and Charlotte’s births – to delay his retirement to handle the delivery! And that’s just the start of the birthing blueprint.