Paul Watt/PA Is Kate Middleton's baby going to be the U.K.'s next little princess? Grandpa Prince Charles hopes so!
The royal family confirmed on Monday that his 32-year-old son Prince William's wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant with the couple's second child.
"It's wonderful to be a grandfather again," Charles, 65, said during a visit with a young entrepreneur helped by the charity The Prince's Trust on Tuesday, according to BBC News. "I'm looking forward to it—but I hope it will be a girl this time."
The elder prince, the eldest child of 88-year-old reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II, had also called the pregnancy news "splendid."
Kate, 32, and William are parents to a 1-year-old son, Prince George, the first biological grandchild of Charles. His 67-year-old wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has a son and daughter from a previous marriage, three grandsons and two granddaughters.
George's new baby brother or sister will become the fourth in line to the British throne, pushing William's younger brother Prince Harry, 29, to No. 5.
It is unclear if the public will learn whether Kate and William's new baby is a boy or a girl before the duchess gives birth. When Kate was pregnant with George in 2013, she and William did not know the baby's gender, according to the family's spokesperson. Hello! magazine reported that she is due to welcome the couple's second child around April or May 2015, although the royal family has not confirmed this.
What are the odds Kate has a baby girl? Consider the genetics: William and Harry were Charles and the late Princess Diana's only children, while Kate has a sister, Pippa Middleton, 31, and a brother, James Middleton, 27.
Meanwhile, bookies are already taking bets on both the new royal baby's gender and name, as well as the possibility of the duchess being pregnant with more than one child.