Twitter Feeds Kate Middleton Delivery Frenzy

Twitter may be the fastest source for Kate Middleton baby news, but it's not the most reliable. Case in point: The false alarm tweets on Thursday announcing the future monarch's arrival. 

Although there's been no announcement from Buckingham Palace and the official handle @BritishMonarchy has remained mum, that hasn’t stopped the social network from bursting with rumors of the royal baby’s impending birth.

One Daily Mirror columnist quipped that Twitter was having "Braxton Hicks" contractions, similar to the false signs of labor moms-to-be have close to their deliveries. Example:


The media is also getting sucked in. From London’s Daily Express reporter Richard Palmer:



And Observer journalist Elizabeth Day tweeted




Others are simply using the royal birth as the ideal inspiration for jokey Tweets. Bestselling author Caitlin Moran


When the royal baby is born, an official notice will be posted on a easel outside Buckingham Palace (the very old fashioned way) before the news is announced on Twitter. Palace aides have stressed that the tweet would only be sent once the public has a chance to see the printed notice, as it's “important that this is done with a degree of dignity and with half an eye on the historical significance."

And while the world is waiting (and tweeting), the royals are living life as usual. On Thursday, at the Queen's Coronation festival at Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla Parker Bowles said she was “immensely looking forward to [the birth] and was waiting for the call” according to the Daily Mirror. And that night, the Middleton family (minus Kate) attended a concert. Even Prince William plans to play polo on Sunday. So to all those eager tweeters jumping the gun, hold your horses.