Category: BBC

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child, Kensington Palace has announced.

The Queen and both families are said to be “delighted with the news”.

As with her previous two pregnancies, the duchess, 35, is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe morning sickness.

She will no longer carry out her planned engagement at the Hornsey Road Children’s Centre in London today.

Catherine is being cared for at Kensington Palace, the statement said.

The duke and duchess have one son, George, and one daughter, Charlotte, aged four and two.

With the previous two pregnancies, the couple announced them before the 12-week mark – when most women have their first scan – because of the duchess being unwell with hyperemesis gravidarum.

Her first pregnancy was revealed when she was just a few weeks pregnant with Prince George after she was admitted to hospital in December 2012.

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Her second pregnancy with Princess Charlotte was announced in September 2014, when she was treated at the palace for the condition.

Hyperemesis gravidarum affects about one in every 200 pregnancies and results in severe nausea and vomiting – with one of the main dangers being dehydration.

The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the couple had “clearly been forced” to make the announcement because of the duchess’ condition.

“It is quite a significant week for them because Prince George is due to start at big school,” he told BBC News.

“Presumably his mother would be keen to take him to that, [but] whether she is going to be well enough to do that remains to be seen.

“It had also been expected that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would be taking a foreign trip this autumn,” he added.

“Whether they will be able to do that or whether the duchess will be well enough to do that also remains to be seen.”

The expectant child will become the fifth in line to the throne behind Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

A change – which stops royal sons taking precedence over their female siblings in the line of succession – came into force in March 2015.

The child will be the Queen’s sixth great-grandchild.

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The last third-born monarch

To become King or Queen as the third-born royal child is rare – and has yet to happen within the current House of Windsor.

But the third child of George III and Queen Charlotte, William IV, took on the task and ruled from 1830 to 1837.

The Hanoverian king acceded to the throne aged 64 when his older brother, George IV, died without an heir.

He became next in line when he was 62 and his other older brother, Frederick, Duke of York, died.

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Prime Minister Theresa May has tweeted her congratulations to the couple, calling it “fantastic news”.

The end of the latest round of Brexit talks provides the lead for many papers.

The Guardian highlights the view of the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier that the UK’s approach is nostalgic, unrealistic and undermined by a lack of trust.

The Daily Express sounds a defiant note.

“You can’t bully us Mr Barnier,” is its headline, saying his comments enraged the British side.

The Times emphasises an EU demand that the UK pays billions of pounds in foreign aid to Africa as part of its financial settlement with Brussels.

Business paper City AM sums up the problem as “money trouble”, and says deadlock over the so-called divorce bill has triggered fresh alarm that trade talks could be shunted into next year.

The Financial Times and the Daily Mail have a photo of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker greeting former PM Tony Blair with a kiss.

The Mail calls it a “nauseating love-in” that “reminds us why we were so right to get out”.

The Guardian, which publishes an investigation into the gambling industry, claims online casinos are targeting people on low incomes and those who have stopped gambling.

In an editorial, the paper says the record fine levied on one company on Thursday is a sign that the UK has a gambling problem and that greater regulation is needed.

“Making the necessary changes will be painful,” it acknowledges, “but the costs to public health cannot be ignored”.

The Times says for an industry that relies on expert judgement in studying form and setting odds, betting operators have an uncanny knack of shooting themselves in the foot.

It says modest cuts in stakes and prizes might be enough to satisfy critics, but the industry’s poor record on responsible gambling is shortening the odds of a drastic outcome.

The Daily Telegraph is among the papers to concentrate on the role of a sat-nav in the alleged terror attack outside Buckingham Palace a week ago.

Evidence taken from the car of Mohiussunath Chowdhury, who appeared in court on Thursday, suggests he programmed his sat-nav for Windsor Castle.

However, the in-car system is believed to have taken him to a central London pub of the same name rather than to the castle itself.

The Times and the Sun point out that the suspect was a driver for taxi firm Uber.

The UK must not allow itself to be “blackmailed” by the EU over its Brexit settlement bill, the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has said.

Talks on the final settlement should begin as soon as possible “because that’s good for business”, he added.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier has said trade talks are still “quite far” away.

Both he and UK Brexit Secretary David Davis made clear on Thursday that the size of the UK’s Brexit “divorce bill” remained a sticking point in talks.

The UK wants to begin trade talks and discuss the future relationship between Britain and the EU as soon as possible, saying it would benefit both sides.

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However, Brussels insists that discussions about the future relationship can only begin once “sufficient progress” has been made on the “divorce bill” – the amount the UK will pay to settle its liabilities when it leaves the EU – citizens’ rights, and the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic.

Mr Barnier said that at the current rate of progress, he was quite far from being able to recommend opening parallel talks on a future trade relationship.

No figure has yet been put on the “divorce” payment, but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested it could come in at about 60bn euros (£55bn).

Unconfirmed reports have put it as high as 100bn euros (£92bn).

Britain, which voted to leave the EU in June 2016, officially began Brexit talks on 19 June this year and is due to leave the EU on Friday, 29 March 2019.

Speaking in Japan on Friday, Mr Fox said everyone would benefit from Brexit if the outcome was free trade with no tariff barriers.

Asked whether it was time for the UK to name its Brexit price, he told ITV News: “We can’t be blackmailed into paying a price on the first part (the divorce fee).

“We think we should begin discussions on the final settlement because that’s good for business, and it’s good for the prosperity both of the British people and of the rest of the people of the European Union.”

Mr Fox and Prime Minister Theresa May have been holding talks with Japanese leaders about the future of trading relations between the two countries after Brexit.

‘Unlock some tension’

Speaking to the BBC at the end of the three-day visit, Mr Fox said: “It’s very clear that businesses, not just in Europe but investors in places like here in Japan, are getting impatient and want to see what that final shape of that [Brexit] arrangement is going to be.”

He said a willingness by the EU to negotiate on the future trading relationship now would “unlock some of the tension”.

He added that it was a “mistake” for the EU to think a delay in talking about the economy and the trading arrangement would not potentially damage them too.

But writing in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the European Parliament’s Brexit group, said the EU has been “fully transparent” about its negotiating positions and mandates since day one.

“This is not a ploy to derail talks, but an inevitable consequence of the Brexit decision,” he said.

Mr Verhofstadt called on UK politicians to “be more honest” about the complexities of Brexit negotiations, asking them to recognise that “other governments also have obligations to their own taxpayers”.

‘Sabre rattling’

Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who works with the pro-EU Open Britain pressure group, said Mr Fox’s comments were “sabre rattling from a trade secretary who is twiddling his thumbs because he cannot do anything until the trade position of the UK has been resolved with the EU”.

“Cabinet ministers like Liam Fox and Boris Johnson have been engaging in overblown rhetoric during the referendum campaign and ever since,” he said.

“Until the government makes progress on the divorce settlement bill there will be no progress on… any kind of trade arrangement.”

The European Council is due to meet in October and will decide whether sufficient progress has been made on key Brexit discussions to allow negotiations to move on to trade and the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

‘Duty to taxpayers’

If it has not, as Mr Barnier has suggested, the next opportunity would be the council’s meeting in December – meaning talks about the future relationship would be unlikely to begin before the end of the year.

Speaking on Thursday following talks in Brussels with Brexit Secretary David Davis, Mr Barnier said the UK did not feel “legally obliged to honour its obligations” after Brexit.

He said “no decisive progress” had been made on key issues, following the third round of talks.

Mr Davis said the UK had a “duty to our taxpayers” to “rigorously” examine the EU’s demands.

And he urged the EU to be “more imaginative and flexible” in its approach.

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