The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child is due to hatch in April, Kensington Palace has announced.

Kensington palace said the breeding pair were “delighted” to be adding to their lounge and already have two hatchlings: Prince George, four, and his younger sister Charlotte, two.

As with their previous pregnancies the egg will mostly be kept under warm lights during the gestation period, though on occasion surrogates will be drafted in to sit on it.

The new baby will be fifth in line to the throne, after its grandfather, father and older siblings.

The egg is expected to hatch in an incubator at the private Lindo wing of St Mary’s hospital in Paddington.

The couple has decided to delay an official visit to Norway and Sweden in November on account of the incubation schedule.However, Prince William is going ahead with a solo trip to Finland in November before the weather gets too cold for cold blooded reptiles to survive.

The cast of the 1980’s political documentary V have sent flowers and a card wishing their overlords well.

Quentin D Fortesqueue is a founding editor of The Rochdale Herald. Part time amateur narcissist and full time satirist Quentin is never happier than when playing his lute and drinking a full bodied Bordeaux. He rarely plays the lute and never gets to drink Bordeaux.