Will and Kate give baby the royal treatment

Prince William holds 3-week-old Hugo Eric Scott Vicary at a reception to celebrate the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole at London's Goldsmiths Hall. (Reuters)

As Kate and Will approach their April 29th first anniversary, the subject of when they'll start a family has begun anew.

And William played has played right into it, doing a fine job of cradling a newborn for the benefit of photographers at a reception in London.

After attending the UK premiere of African Cats on Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge  were on the VIP carpet again Thursday with two receptions. The first featured soldiers who recreated the century-old race to the South Pole, though the best photo-op belonged to a 3-week-old baby who found his way into Prince William's arms.

Hugo Eric Scott Vicary, wearing a baby Superman suit, is the son of Vic Vicary, one of the soldiers who was on the expedition.

"My wife asked if he (William) would like to hold him and he took hold of him," the proud dad told the Daily Mail.

He said William was a "natural" with children. Kate joined the conversation, who offered that the baby was "very cute" and, said Vicary, "had doting eyes on him."

William was a patron of the expedition that recreated the famous race to the South Pole a hundred years ago between Robert F. Scott and Roald Amundsen. Using Scott's and Amundsen's diaries, the two British teams followed their route across the ice for 70 days. (Amundsen beat Scott to the pole by a week.)

The expedition raised funds for the Battle Back Centre to help wounded military personnel, a cause long supported by William and Prince Harry.

As usual, Kate held the attention of the room. The Duchess, who likes her blues, wore a navy tweed skirt and jacket by New Zealand-born (and U.S.-based) designer Rebecca Taylor. Together, the ensemble runs about $800-850. A red enamel, poppy-shaped brooch decorated her jacket.

Later, Kate donned a charcol grey Amanda Wakely dress (retail about $730) as she and Prince William ed to launched the Imperial War Museum Foundation's campaign to create new World War I galleries.

Prince William talks to Vic Vicary, holding his son Hugo Eric Scott Vicary as his wife Hanna looks on, during a reception For The Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race at Goldsmiths Hall. Right, Kate takes a moment to coo over the baby.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is surrounded by photographers as she leaves Goldsmiths Hall in London on Friday, following a reception to celebrate the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole. She wore a $24 enamel, poppy-shaped brooch that raises funds for the Royal British Legion. (AFP/Getty Images)

 Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrive to attend a reception to help launch the Imperial War Museum Foundation's First World War Galleries: Centenary Campaign at the Imperial War Museum on Thursday. (Tim Whitby/Getty Images)

QUEEN IN WALES

The Queen's biological clock hit 86 years on the weekend, but she has had very little time to ponder her age. Keeping up her schedule of Diamon Jubilee appointments, the monarch travelled to Wales on Thursday.

Arriving by train at Cardiff, she and Prince Philip attended a special service at the cathedral in the morning. Their itinerary then included a visit with Wales' Grand Slam-winning rugby team, followed by a stop at a school in Merthyr Tydfil and the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum.

On Wednesday, she got her first look at the Gloriana, the renovated barge that will carry the Royal Family at the head of a giant flotilla down the River Thames on June 3.

Queen Elizabeth  receives flowers from 9-year-old Georgie Seager as she leaves Llandaff Cathedral in south Wales on Thursday. (Reuters)

Queen Elizabeth braved some nasty weather on Wednesday to visit Gloriana, the new Royal Rowbarge, built to mark the Diamond Jubilee, at Greenland Pier on the Thames. The boat will lead the thousand-boat flotilla down the river during the Jubilee weekend June 2-5. (Getty Images)

Comments

[Greentea]

What a joke

Lets give them another award, another few billion also. When will they begin to help the hungry, the needy? Instead of all these top hat events, where one of their hats costs what a education would in some countries, why aren't they helping where they can.