Royal baby watch continues

++ AUDIO AS INCOMING ++

It's the great Kate Wait.

As the world's media and royal fans anxiously await the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II showed signs of impatience during a visit to England's Lake District.

As she was greeted by a group of school children one of the girls asked the monarch if she'd prefer William and Kate's newborn to be a boy or a girl.

The Queen laughed and said.

SOUNDBITE: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, saying (English):

"I don't think I mind, but I'd very much like it to arrive because I'm going on holiday."

Die-hard royalists are lining the streets outside the London hospital where the Duchess is due to have her baby.

SOUNDBITE: Terry Hutt, Royal superfan, saying (English):

"I am really getting excited now, I've been waiting for days and now it has run into a week, I feel as if I am having the baby!"

SOUNDBITE: John Loughrey, Royal superfan, saying (English)