Odds in favour of a royal baby announcement!

Speaking exclusively to New Idea, The Duchess of Cambridge's old school friend Jessica Hay has revealed that William and Kate are expecting their second baby and will make an announcement in the next few months.

Bookmakers in the UK have since jumped on the royal baby bandwagon, announcing that they are suspending bets on a pregnancy announcement this month when alarm bells sounded following a flurry of online bets overnight.

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Earlier this month, the bookies were offering 10-1 odds that The Duke and Duchess would announce a second royal arrival in the month of July - this was then slashed to even odds (a 50-50 chance) before betting was closed completely last night.

A spokewoman from bookmaker's Coral revealed: "With Prince George’s first birthday just around the corner, the latest gamble strongly indicates that he could soon be joined by a little brother or sister."

The Duchess, who was glowing as she attended a Wimbledon match on July 6, was seen placing a protective hand on her stomach during the match. Source: Getty Images.

Bookies in Australia however are still open for business at this stage, with Will Byrne from Sportsbet saying: “Betting on baby George was phenomenal so we’re not going to stop our punters having a punt on such a huge news story. It’ll be interesting to see if there is no smoke without fire on this occasion."

Kate's friends from her school days famously confirmed to New Idea that Kate was pregnant with her firstborn child in a world exclusive interview in November 2012 - weeks before the official announcement was made.

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"Kate's inner circle are buzzing with the news that she is pregnant. I've heard it from several different friends of theirs now", she tells New Idea.

While whispers have been doing the rounds for some time, Jessica reveals that there have been some telltale signs in recent weeks - similar to those when she was pregnant with George.

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"Kate's face is fuller like it was when she was first expecting George and she's been changing her hair, which could be to disguise the fullness" Jessica says.

With her royal engagements appearing to have slowed right down - and her schedule mysteriously clear in August and September - all signs are pointing to a royal pregnancy.

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"Kate has very little planned work-wise over the next couple of months and a lot of royal insiders say that's because she's focusing on putting her feet up and keeping herself healthy because she's expecting another baby" Jessica adds.

However we might just have to stay patient for an official announcement from the Palace, with Kate keen to wait until the first trimester has passed this time, after being forced to announce her first pregnancy early when she was admitted to hospital with acute morning sickness.

Read the full story in this week's New Idea magazine, on sale now!

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