How to predict the gender of royal baby number three
With weeks (perhaps days) to go until Kate Middleton gives birth to royal baby number three, we can't help but wonder whether the Duchess will welcome a baby girl or baby boy into the family.
However, despite having had no confirmation as to the gender of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's new baby, it has been widely speculated the couple are expecting a daughter.
After all, following the couple's pregnancy announcement in September, Prince Charles revealed he was 'hoping for a granddaughter' and many royal fans believe Kate is carrying her bump high, which is said to indicate that it's a baby girl.
As a result, we've rounded up our top list of methods to figure out, once and for all, whether we'll have another prince or princess in our midst.
Chinese birth chart
The Chinese Birth Chart is a predictor tool which claims to identify (with an alarming degree of accuracy, we might add), what gender a baby will be when it's born.
Legend has it that the original chart was found by a scientist in a royal tomb in Beijing over 700 years ago and relies on two important principles:
The age of the mother when she conceived.
The month in which the mother conceived.
To use the chart correctly (see below), you must first locate the mother's age at conception in the column on the left, and then look across on the column which goes horizontally. Where the two intersect there is either the letter M – for male or F – for female.
A quick test using Kate's age the year she conceived (35) and the month in which she conceived (presumed to be June if September marks the 12 weeks 'all clear' stage in the first trimester), we can predict that the Duchess is expecting a baby girl.
The 'belly test'
Among the numerous lists of gender tests, one involves observing the shape of a woman's bump to determine a baby's gender.
According to this test, if a woman carries low and narrow (with the foetus sitting close to the hips), the baby is a boy. Meanwhile, if the baby rests high in the abdominal area close to the ribs, the baby is thought to be a girl.
Given that we've only seen Kate's baby bump under layers of Jenny Packham dresses and Catherine Walker coats for months, this is quite a hard one to analyse.
But several royal commentators believe Kate's bump shape sits high up like in her second pregnancy with Princess Charlotte, suggesting a girl is on the way.
Mayan gender prediction
Focussing on maths and astronomy, the Ancient Mayans claim that a baby's gender can be worked out by taking the age of the mother and the time of conception and the number representing the conception month. For example '4' for the fourth month of the year, April.
If both numbers are even or both are odd, the Mayans predict the baby is a girl. If one number is odd and the other is even, it's a boy.
So, if we take the above stats for Kate Middleton (age 35 with the month of conception believed to be June), the gender chart suggests she's having a girl.
Hairline test
An old Native American legend claims that neck hairline of your previous child can predict the gender of your current pregnancy.
So, if the hairline goes straight across, the baby will be the same sex as the first child. If the hairline goes to a point, the baby will be the opposite sex as your first child.
Right, so we're not quite sure how to work this one out when it comes to examining Princess Charlotte's neck hairline (we don't particularly fancy getting arrested for stalking anytime soon), so keep your eyes peeled in the meantime.
Morning sickness clue
A study of over a million pregnancies in Sweden between 1987 and 1995 found that mothers are more likely to suffer from serious morning sickness if they are pregnant with a girl.
The BBC reports that although there were more births of boys during the period studied, there was a higher chance of mothers-to-be of girls being admitted to hospital suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum – serious nausea and vomiting – during the first three months of pregnancy.
As we all know, Kate suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum at the beginning of her third pregnancy, so much so she was forced to miss Prince George's first day of school, which may suggest she's expecting a baby girl.
The way you walk
According to the Distaff Gospels – an odd collection of Medieval women's medical 'knowledge' – the way you walk when you're pregnant can determine the gender of your unborn child.
The Gospels claim that if you walk with your right foot first, you're going to have a boy. If it's the left foot first, you can expect to have a girl.
Of course, we're not quite sure how any of this has any relevance to chromosomes but, a quick look at Kate Middleton's dominant foot mid stride (i.e. some pictures of her at recent outings) you can see that she often, erm, walks with her left foot first.
Or maybe it's her right...
Look, it's going to be 50/50 so unless you have a better idea of predicting the royal baby's gender, we're hedging our bets and saying we're going to be welcoming a baby girl.
