Get ready , a birth soon to be announced

So Gilly, your grandchild will not give a fig if her/ his mother doesn't have a tiara ?

Thank you Oldwoman not long now

Yes she/he will be loved very much Annie

Hold the front page !

Breaking News .....Daughter visits elderly father in hospital.....

Gilly, the baby will be loved ?

gillybob - sending you best wishes for your daughter and the baby.

Granny23 - if the Royal Family had all visited there would be criticism that they were distracting the attention of the medical professionals and also disrupting others visiting the hospital, but they are now being criticised because they chose not to visit en masse - they just can't win

I know your right GrannyA the baby clothes were just the straw that breaks the camels back. Thank you for your very wise and kind words.

It is MawBroon . Silly because that baby will be showered with love and won’t know or even care about charity shop clothes . I know my DD will get loads of gifts of lovely NEW clothes once the baby arrives, I’m just being silly .

He is not in hospital for long and I think when he has been in hospital before he has discouraged visitors. For the last 100 years there have been other methods of keeping in close contact with someone without seeing them.

I can quite understand someone not wanting visitors when in hospital. Just the fact that people are sitting around your bed, just watching, can be really exhausting. Childbirth apart I haven't spent more than a night in hospital since childhood, but, generally, I am unsociable when not feeling well - and that includes to those who live with me - I prefer to creep into a dark corner on my own and not be bothered until I feel better.

Gillybob
It’s so often the little things which trigger the memories and the tears, isn’t it.
Don’t fight them, let them flow if necessary, then have a and take a deep breath before you face the present

gillybob I understand why you feel the way you do. Your own situation work-wise has been pretty dire for a long time; you've obviously been struggling to make ends meet and doing the right thing by your employees at a great cost to your own health and finances. Then seeing your lovely daughter having to work through a longed for pregnancy is probably like rubbing salt into a wound - like any mother would, you want a better life for your children. To compare your daughter's life with a pampered Kate's is obviously a red rag to a bull. My own daughter has started her maternity leave as the baby is due in two weeks and she will return to work afterwards; I would love for her not to have to go back to work - but I'm glad that she doesn't live her life in a goldfish bowl with the press watching and commenting on her every move.
Someone once encouraged me to think of the royal family as being extremely wealthy volunteers: Either it's a job and they have no choice but to carry out official duties, or it's not - in which case they do an amazing amount of voluntary work. Our family once had to endure a short period of being hounded by the press and the detrimental effect that had on us has left permanent psychological scars. The royals have to go through that every single day and it's a wonder to me that they're not all insane.

Crikey when my grandma and mum were in hospital we are a tiny family almost all working full time and yet we never missed a hospital visiting session.

They’re a different breed these royals . Heartless ? Uncaring ? Or just weird ?

Yes I know that Annie it just made me remember sad times when I was young and thought it would be better/easier for my own .

Perhaps this very old man didn't want family visitors , he will have friends who are part of his staff there . If the family had flocked there the media would have been getting their black ties out of the drawer .

When my late DH was in hospital he banned any visitors so for all we know this could have been what he wanted.

That's how it is Gilly love, there has always been and always will be some better off and some worse off x

News item last night - Princess Anne visited her father - the D of E - in hospital for 45 minutes. THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY TO VISIT.

Now I appreciate that you wouldn't want to visit an ill person mob handed but can you imagine any normal family, where there is a Wife, 4 children and umpteen grandchildren and none of them, bar one has bothered to visit this very old man?

My DD doesn’t drive Annie and as she said no point learning as she could never afford a car anyway .

I am feeling very sensitive at the moment so apologies “for going on and on”.

It broke my heart last night washing a pile of baby clothes that my DD has picked up from a local charity shop . It made me remember when I had my son all those years ago . Silly because they’re perfectly okay but instead of washing them I wanted to gather them up and throw them in the bin .
They’re hanging all over my house drying today and I know that once they are ironed they’ll be as good as new but they’re not and that makes me sad .

Gilly, yes hard for your daughter but many women take full maternity leave now. Many drive to work, too

Best wishes to your DD gillybob

Sorry but I didn’t notice the waste of air comment earlier .

Yes we are very excited Maggie this little baby was never meant to be and we can’t wait to meet her ( or him)

I am neither fascinated by or worship the RF, I do wish the best for a young couple about to have a child. The only time I think about the RF is when there is something about them in the news, which I then promptly forget about and get on with my life - something which I think the majority of us do.

.......She only took a month or so off after giving birth

A month or so off from what ? Scrubbing floors ? Getting the bus to do an 8 hour shift ? Or smiling and shaking hands ?

This is exactly what gets my back up though Maggie or maybe I’m just feeling over sensitive at the moment.

My DD won’t get anywhere near a year off work . 6 weeks to be exact !

I suppose Kate and William would have had an easier life if they weren't royal, especially him, born as they were into wealthy families. I wouldn't want to be on show all the time, and most of their official engagements will be deadly dull. And to be fair, I seem to remember she only took a month or so "off" after giving birth, whereas my DD has just had a full year mat leave.

Yes, "waste of good air" is vitriolic, the sort of phrase I'd use for a criminal, rather than someone just carrying out the role he happened to be born into.

Exciting times,ahead for you, gillybob!

the use of ' starts her maternity leave' is less formal than

'The Duchess of Cambridge will not be carrying out public duties for x. months/weeks

'over privileged, pampered, waste of good air'? sounds pretty vitriolic to me!