London:
Prince Charles' wife Camilla may have the answer the world is looking for, as she has said that Prince William and Kate's baby is expected to arrive "by the end of the week".
"We don't know what's going to happen. We're all waiting at the end of a telephone. I hope by the end of the week he or she will be there," Camilla was quoted by The Mirror as saying, during a visit to a children's hospice.
Prince Charles and Camilla started their annual summer tour of Devon and Cornwall on Tuesday in the popular tourist town of Bude.
Many mothers brought their babies to meet them, giving them ample opportunity to greet newborns before Kate gives birth.
Senior royals will be the first to know when Kate is admitted to the Lindo wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington in the early stages of labour.
The 31-year-old Duchess, who is thought to have passed her due date, has been staying with her parents in Bucklebury, Berkshire, this week, together with her husband Prince William, who has a period of rest days from his RAF duties.
The couple were said to be "calm" and "relaxed" as they await the arrival of their first child. Kensington Palace has only ever confirmed that the baby is due in "mid-July", and conflicting reports have put the due date at anything between July 13 and July 19.