The concensus is that you don't look
towards the tight-lipped Palace to decipher whether there's to be an
announcement of an imminent royal marriage or birth.
Instead, you keep
a beady eye on the betting markets.
Today, William Hill
— the UK's biggest gambling firm — have dramatically halved the odds on
Prince William proposing to girlfriend Kate Middleton by the end of the
year.
It's now 3-1 on for 24-year-old Kate to be the proud owner of an engagement ring before the end of 2006.
According to William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams:
"We have seen a real surge of interest in the betting ever since the
photo's of Kate Middleton in a bikini appeared. Punters obviously think
that William is on to a good thing and would be mad not to pop the
question."
Meanwhile, the bookies have also cut the odds on William's royal cousin, equestrian Zara Phillips, being named BBC Sports Personality of The Year following her amazing win in Germany last month which saw her crowned World Champion at the age of just 25.
Princess Anne's daughter is currently joint favourite with Scottish tennis sensation Andy Murray, with both listed as 9/4 to win the prestigious award.
According to William Hill, no less than six three figure bets have been
received by the company in the past few hours for Zara to win the BBC
award, despite the fact the public vote is yet to open.
