Kate Middleton Shows Off Her Baby Bump At Last

The princess finally ditches her heavy winter wardrobe and shows off her expectant figure

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The Duchess Of Cambridge Attends The Art Room Reception
Karwai Tang / WireImage / Getty Images

The Duchess of Cambridge attends an evening reception to celebrate the work of the charity The Art Room at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The baby bump patrol has been watching with baited breath since the Royal Palace announced that the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant in December, waiting for Kate to reveal her expectant figure in public. Thus far, she has been able to keep her shape under wraps, literally—appearing in a series of wrap dresses and body-skimming overcoats that masked any sign of her pregnancy. But with spring in the air, and approaching her final trimester, this week Kate shed her layers to show off her bump.

Yesterday she attended a charity event in London in a pale blue Emilia Wickstead dress, looking radiant. The day before at a visit to a primary school in Manchester, she stepped out in a printed Erdem frock that hugged her bump in a figure-flattering way. In both instances Kate appeared comfortable and content as she basked in the glow of pregnancy.

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Navigating the potential minefields of maternity fashion can prove difficult for any public figure. Stretchy yoga pants and shapeless muumuus won’t cut it when thousands of flashbulbs are capturing your every step—or misstep. But so far, Kate is choosing wisely, embracing dresses that show off her shape without overexposing it (see: America’s pregnant princess of sorts, Kim Kardashian).

In other good news for the Duchess, two journalists are being investigated in France for the topless photos that were published last September in the tabloid Closer of Kate sunbathing at a chateau in the south of France. Ernesto Mauri, CEO of Mondadori France, the parent company of Closer, and an unnamed photographer for the newspaper La Provence, are also facing legal actions by the Duke and Duchess.

MORE: Kate Middleton’s Artist Defends Criticized Portrait