Looking every inch the confident toddler, Prince George is pictured walking in an official photograph released to mark his first birthday.

It was the kind of announcement with which Aunt Pippa’s taut tush could never compete.

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has been admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in London in the early stages of labour, Kensington Palace said today.

Eager paparazzi are setting up camp outside a London maternity hospital - desperate for a peak at the royal baby - despite the fact that she is not due to give birth until mid-month.