Royal baby number two - lessons from Europe

William and Kate are currently keeping us all guessing over the names of the godparents they've chosen for baby George but once that's out of the way and we've seen everyone smiling in big hats on the christening day, then that favourite guessing game of royal watchers can begin again in earnest.  The increase in public duties for the Duchess of Cambridge will co-incide with an increased focus on the size of her impossibly flat tummy as the wait for the spare for the heir of the heir begins.

 

Kate and William on Anglesey six weeks after the birth of George.  Reports of pregnancy number two are likely to begin just days after the christening of baby number one if the experiences of other consorts and consorts in waiting are anything to go by

Admittedly, most European heirs and their wives haven't kept people waiting too long for baby number two.  The shortest gap between babies is about eighteen months with three royal couples giving themselves just about enough time to pause for breath before starting all over again.  The new king and queen of the Netherlands had just over a year an a half between the birth of their two eldest girls with Catharina-Amalia arriving on December 7th 2003 and Alexia joining her on June 26th 2005.

The then Prince and Princess of Orange were well prepared for the christening of Princess Alexia of the Netherlands - they'd done it all not that long before for baby Amalia

Also leaving just enough time for a couple of nights out before hunkering down into new babyhood again were the Danish and Spanish heirs and their wives.  Back in those heady days of the early noughties, when Fred and Felipe couldn't do anything without the other one following hard on their heels, both of them presented baby number two just eighteen months after showing off their first borns.  Frederik and Mary welcomed baby Isabella on April 21st 2007 in the same hospital where Christian had arrived on October 15th 2007. 

Isabella of Denmark with her brother, Christian, and parents Frederik and Mary a few days after her birth in April 2007

That gap of just over eighteen months was beaten by a few days by Felipe and Letizia when they welcomed Sofia on April 29th 2007.  Their eldest child, Leonor, had arrived on October 31st 2005 meaning their gap was two days short of eighteen months.

 

The Prince and Princess of Asturias leave hospital with baby Sofia just eighteen months after they'd faced the cameras on the day they brought Leonor home

 A slightly longer gap for the Belgian and Norwegian heirs although the dates of birth of Haakon and Mette-Marit's children make the space look slightly smaller.  Ingrid Alexandra was born on January 21st 2004 with Sverre Magnus arriving 22 months later on December 3rd 2005.

 

Sverre Magnus was still getting the hang of posing for portraits at his christening - everyone else's faces are on display but he clearly wants no more photos judging by the hand over his eyes

A gap of around 22 months was the choice of the now king and queen of the Belgians, Philippe and Mathilde, when they came to expand their family after the birth of their heiress, Elisabeth, on October 25th 2001.  Her little brother, Gabriel, arrived on August 20th 2003, just short of a one year ten month space between them.

 

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium holds her new brother, Gabriel, as the family pose for photographers two days after the little prince's birth in August 2003

Victoria of Sweden will have at least two years between the birth of Estelle and any other baby that comes along for the heiress and her husband.  The baby princess turns two in February 2014 and with no announcement of number two by now that means she'll be the oldest sibling with the biggest gap between herself and her heir unless, of course, William and Kate decide to leave it a few years before another child.