To just want to sob?

Can't understand some of the comments - no-one will be forced to buy these things, you don't have to read/hear/watch anythng about the baby. Will I be buying any of this stuff - no. I do wish the parents well, as I would any couple expecting their first child. So come on - lighten up.
Or is this just another excuse to bash the DM (puts on tin hat and ducks below the parapet)

I do wish them well sunseeker, just like any other couple having their first child. The thing is I think I'm suffering from an overload of all things royal right now, and I just don't want to see or hear any more about any of them for a good long time to come. As well as which, it's a bit like listening to any new parent/ grandparent talking about their offspring; it just gets boring after a while. And I hold my hands up - I have been/ am as boring as the next grandparent when it comes to my own!

As a young couple expecting their firstborn, I wish them well. That's it!

Should we have a 'darkened room' thread? It would have to be rather large if we all wanted to lie down.

Yes, good idea! Somewhere that doesn't allow in all the razzmatazz of blue blood, royal aches and pains, tiny pregnancy bumps, royal connections with pert bottoms and party books, commemorative mugs and anything else that is capable of being turned from trivia into headline news!!!! Grrr......and relax

You are all moaning Minnies.

I resemble that remark!!!!!

Where people spend their money doesn't bother me one jot, so if buying souvenir stuff is their 'thing' then long may they have the freedom to do so. Its been happening for decades ..... I know a lot of people with souvenir coronation mugs!!

What does sadden me though is the monarchy becoming directly and blatantly involved with commercialism and tat . There is modernising .... and then there is a step too far.

If Henry VIII had had ebay he wouldn't've had to close down the monasteries, nick all their money and destroy all those beautiful buildings...

I misread the title of this thread, I thought it said ' to just want to slob ' and I thought to myself ' there goes a woman after my own heart '

One thing I have noticed is how cheerful Her Maj has been while Philip was in hospital. She was chortling away during the procession through Windsor for the Garter ceremony and laughing on the balcony at the end of Trooping the Colour. Maybe she's been enjoying a bit of a break from Grumpy Old Man Syndrome....Don't we all?

oooooh Harrigan ..... do start a slob thread!!
Serious contributor here, slouching at desk in old jeans and tatty cardi because its a work day and I am not having to meet with clients!

I reckon Prince is much sicker than they are making out. Go figure - he'd have been home the next day after simple "exploratory surgery".
Strange then, that E2 is chirpy.
Always highlights to me, when they are in hospital, how much it highlights that they are not like ordinary folk. Husband has operation. Wife leaves it a couple of days before visiting. Despite access to chauffeur driven car. To paraphrase: Royalty is a different country, they do things differently there.

I wondered whether she is on "happy pills" and really a lot more worried than she appears?

I agree about Duke of Edinburgh Jess. I think he has a serious illness. Just compare photos of him 12 months ago and now - he looks very frail.

Meanwhile Queenie looks better and better - it's remarkable how pretty she still looks. After all she is an old lady in anyone's book. I think she has inherited her Mother's genes and longevity - at least I hope so. I don't look forward to her heir taking over.

I am sure he probably is seriously ill. His health has been dodgy for sometime. He is a very old man, this is what happens to people of that age. If there is something wrong it hits them very quickly and in a very major way. Poor man.

at the Queen on happy pills.

I think she is happy because all her family are settled and happy too.
There's a new heir on the way, and all the marriages seem to be ok. She can pop her clogs anytime she feels like it

But not retire, please, no, not retire! Be a bit like going from a steady container ship with 20 years record of steady work behind it, to an experimental wind/solar powered yacht with a dodgy steering system.

I have just got back from a week in our house in France. I think I will return for the next three months

On the bright side everything will be being remaindered by Christmas so could be a good source of cheap Christmas presents

Not just the DM, Sunday Times had a similar article.

Whatever we may think it is very good for exports. Wherever you go in the world if you refer to the Queen, I understand everyone thinks of our queen. There was a lot of interest during the jubilee from our friends in CA and NL who all wanted souvenirs.

Jess " with a dodgy steering system "

....oh, are we back to discussing Camilla again?

I read somewhere that family didn't visit Prince Phillip when in hospital because he discouraged visitors, even from his nearest and dearest. He just wanted to get on with it and get out. It seems to work, he was discharged three days early. Perhaps more of us should do it.

I thought the reason the Queen didn't make many hospital visits to family members was because her presence would cause such huge disruption to hospital routines and processes.

What will the media do if the Duke of Edinburgh pops his clogs the same day as the Duchess of Cambridge whelps?

'whelps'? What a strange choice of words, absent.