Kate Keeps Mum Over Royal Baby's Gender

The Duchess of Cambridge can feel her unborn baby kicking but is remaining silent on whether the potential heir to the throne is a boy or a girl, it has emerged.

Kate, whose first child is due in July, made the revelation to a member of the public she met on a royal visit to Grimsby.

When asked by a woman: "Can you feel the baby kicking?", the Duchess replied: "Yes. I can feel it kicking."

The Duchess met dozens of well-wishers while on a visit to Grimsby's National Fishing Heritage Centre - her first of three engagements.

It is not known whether she knows the sex of her unborn baby, but when asked by those she met, she avoided giving any clues.

The Government has proposed changing the law of succession to allow a first-born female to become queen in the event that Prince William's wife gives birth to a girl.

The bill forcing the change is currently at the report stage in the House of Lords and is expected to become law.

The Duchess arrived nearly one-and-a-half hours late after her helicopter departure from Kensington Palace was severely delayed due to fog.

The crowds which had started to assemble early, waved flags and chanted: "We want Kate."

Finally they cheered as the Duchess - her baby bump just visible beneath her chocolate-coloured three-quarter length Hobbs coat - began her visit at the northeast Lincolnshire town's National Fishing Heritage Centre.

She was shown around by former trawlerman John Vincent, who is now a guide at the award-winning museum.

While there, she called into a mocked-up 1950s pub and had her photograph taken sitting next to one of the life-sized figures.

She also discussed environmental issues, such as the sustainability of North Sea fishing.

Mr Vincent said: "It's been fantastic, a great honour. She's a great lady."

The Duchess then went on to Grimsby's Peaks Lane Fire Station, where she was greeted with more loud cheers from the estimated 200 people who were waiting for her.

One of the women who had been waiting up to three hours to meet her, Claire Moss-Smith, 86, said she had said to the Duchess: "I'm waiting for you to be Queen."

She said Kate laughed and replied: "You might be waiting a long time."

Inside she met around 10 adults and children who were patients at nearby St Andrew's Hospice and also a number of local youngsters who had been helped by her father-in-law's Prince's Trust.

It was the first time she had met people on the ground involved with the charity. Some were past members of the scheme, while others were part-way through the 12-week programme delivered in partnership with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

As well as meeting the young people, Kate was also introduced to the fire crews working at the station and shown the fleet of fire engines.

She was shown a fire pole inside the station and said: "That reminds me of the scene in the Bridget Jones film."

In the movie, the character Bridget Jones is made to slide down a fire pole as part of her job as a television journalist but makes an ungracious landing on top of the cameraman.

Also at the fire station, Kate was presented with a posy by 11-year-old Evie Oxley, whose father Pete is a firefighter but is undergoing treatment for blood cancer. Evie's mother has also been given the all clear from breast cancer.

The little girl said Kate asked her about her swimming and told her she had been brave with her parents both being ill.