Jessica Hay reveals the secrets behind Kate's speedy labour

Kate's oldest friend Jessica Hay reveals how Princess Charlotte's birth went down, in New Idea's Royal Baby special issue, on sale now! Photo: Getty Images

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's second birth was an emotional affair, marked by lots of special time with attentive dad Prince William according to her oldest friend, Jessica Hay.

The expectant mum went into labour late at night on Friday May 1, but stayed at the royal couple’s sprawling apartment at Kensington Palace ‘for as long as possible’.

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"Kate started to get mild labour pains late on Friday, but decided to wait at home for as long as she could. She didn’t go into the hospital until her waters had broken," Jessica says.

"Once the labour was underway, Kate and William stayed up together and drank hot chocolate and played Scrabble, chess and backgammon, which helped distract her as the labour pains started in earnest.

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"They watched the Kate Winslet movie A Little Chaos and also the latest Hobbit film, which was lovely and relaxing for them."

As the pains started to kick in and the contractions grew closer together at about 5am, Kate had a warm bath and, after a chat with her doctors, she told William that she was ready to go to the Lindo Wing.

To read the rest of Jess' interview story and for our full Royal Baby special issue, pick up this week's New Idea magazine, on sale now!

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