Royal baby: Family eagerly waiting the phone call

The royal family are "excited and waiting for the phone call" as the Duchess of Cambridge approaches her due date, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall has disclosed.

A well-placed source disclosed that Kate is "feeling really well" as she awaits the birth of her first child, due this weekend, and had even considered attending a concert at Buckingham Palace yesterday, before deciding it might be tempting fate to do so.

The Duchess of Cornwall was asked about the baby as she toured exhibitors' stalls at the Coronation Festival in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

Amanda Love, whose husband Andrew is deputy chairman of the Ritz hotel, said to the Duchess: "I bet you are on tenterhooks waiting for the birth."

The Duchess replied: "Yes, we are very excited - immensely looking forward to it and waiting for the phone call."

Later, as the Prince of Wales was shown a range of commemorative china to mark the birth, he told Trevor Johnson, of the manufacturers Caverswall: "Ah, you're doing that. Well, it won't be long now."

Kate is understood to be staying at Kensington Palace, less than 2km from St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where she will give birth in the private Lindo Wing.

Prince William is in Wales, where his RAF Search and Rescue squadron is stationed, but has borrowed a helicopter so he can fly to London at a moment's notice.

But for other members of the royal family, it has remained business as usual.

The Queen spent the afternoon looking around the festival celebrating the 60th anniversary of her coronation.

In a departure from the usual protocol, the Queen agreed to pose with a 7-year-old girl who asked if she and her teddy could have a picture taken with her.

Jessica Fitch, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, approached the monarch with Bertie Bear, the mascot of the Bethesda Methodist Church Brownie pack, as her father Michael, 35, asked: "Ma'am, would you mind if we took a picture?"

The Queen, who normally declines requests for pictures, agreed, and asked Jessica: "Are you a Brownie?"

Jessica's mother Heather, 39, said: "She told her 'yes I am', and she said it in such a posh voice. It was so kind of the Queen to stop."

Jessica said: "I was a bit nervous. She was lovely."

Later, the Duchess of Cornwall said hello to the family as she passed, and she, too, agreed to a photograph.

A few minutes later, the family spotted the Prince of Wales, and completed a trio of photographs.