Kate Middleton Pregnant? The Pressures of Producing a Royal Heir (VIDEO)
Kate Middleton is rumored to be pregnant. If true, the Duchess of Cambridge would allay the pressures of being expected to give birth within a year of becoming part of the monarchy.
Kate Middleton’s Pregnancy and the Traditional Pressures of Producing an HeirAccording royal biographer Andrew Morton, “Every reigning monarch for the last 200 years has had a child within a year and a half; Diana was pregnant within three months.”
Rumors were fueled on Wednesday, when while visiting a UNICEF distribution center in Copenhagen, Denmark, Middleton refused a taste of peanut paste, or peanut butter.
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This refusal was interpreted as exhibiting obedience to medical warnings of mothers not consuming peanut products during pregnancy.
There have also been reports that Middleton is now in the process of preparing nurseries at varied locations for the arrival of her child.
The wives of kings and heirs to thrones have always encountered pressure to produce heirs of their own, in the past, more specifically male heirs, as in the case of the first wife of Henry Vlll, Catherine of Argon, who faced tremendous pressure to produce an heir.
Catherine was unable to produce a son, which prompted Henry to ask the pope for an annulment of his marriage.
Based on new changes in the rules of succession, if Kate and William give birth to a daughter she will accede to the throne before a younger brother.
