Kate Middleton Visits Grimsby

The Duchess of Cambridge touched down in Grimsby earlier today and made three scheduled stops. Due to inclimate weather, The Duchess was a bit late as her helicopter could not depart on time.

The Grimsby Telegraph provided royal watchers from around the world with a Live UStream of Kate's arrivals and departures, and also updated their website with real-time information about the visits. It seems that, as always, Kate drew a huge crowd of admirers and well-wishers, and there was - predictably - lots of interest in Baby Cambridge.

The Duchess of Cambridge greeting well-wishers

When asked if she could feel the baby kicking, Kate responded "very much so." During time spent with an elderly hospice patient who told Kate that she "can't wait" for her to be Queen, Kate responded "You might have to wait a long time."

There's been much debate about this comment (see my Tumblr for details!), but I think she's probably right - The Queen Mum lived until she was 102, and at 86 years old, The Queen is still quite spritely. Prince Philip is also still on the go, which leads me to believe that The Queen may have another 15ish years in her reign, and that when Charles ascends the throne, he'll also reign well into old age. Of course, anything could happen, but here's hoping for long, healthy lives for all of the royals!

According to other royal watchers, Kate was 75 minutes late (due to the aforementioned weather delay), but spent an additional 100 minutes (nearly 2 hours!) in Grimsby.

The Duchess of Cambridge has left Havelock Academy. She may have arrived Grimsby 75 mins late, but she also ran 100 minutes overtime #gykate
— British Royals (@britishroyals) March 5, 2013

Update: Queen Elizabeth Has Left The Hospital

Queen Elizabeth has been released from the hospital, and appears to be doing well!

The Queen, smiling and looking well, has left King Edward VII Hospital in London after almost 24 hours of treatment for gastroenteritis.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) March 4, 2013

The below photos are from earlier today and show Her Majesty leaving the hospital and looking to be in good spirits.

Queen Elizabeth Hospitalized

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has been hospitalized.

Her Majesty is suffering from a bout of gastroenteritis, which is essentially a stomach infection.

According to WebMD, Gastroenteritis is:

Gastroenteritis is a condition that causes irritation and inflammation of the stomachand intestines (the gastrointestinal tract). An infection may be caused by bacteria or parasites in spoiled food or unclean water. Some foods may irritate your stomach and cause gastroenteritis. Lactose intolerance to dairy products is one example.

It is said that The Queen's hospitalization is strictly precautionary, and her condition has not deteriorated since this past Friday, whens he cancelled an engagement due to illness. All upcoming engagements for the next week have been either cancelled, or postponed, which is quite rare for Her Majesty.

The last time Her Majesty was hospitalized was 10 years ago, for a scheduled knee surgery. Since then, The Queen has been in good health, and has rarely cancelled or postponed any engagements. She did, however, cancel an engagement earlier this year after coming down with a cold. Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, was hospitalized twice last year, once for a bladder infection and once for heart surgery.

In my opinion, Her Majesty cancelling engagements is a sign that she's slowing down a bit in her old age (she'll be 87 in April!), and I think that this will have a huge impact on how the younger royals begin to handle their royal duties.

I'm also interested to see if Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will be allowed to begin undertaking royal engagements to fill in any gaps. It's been said that Prince Charles is interested in "slimming down" the monarchy to only a few key members (The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry being the "big seven"), but as long as Princes William and Harry are full-time military men, and Kate is expecting, it seems that more hands may be needed on deck.

What do you think?