Royal coincidence continue for couple

JAMES and Charlotte Durrant are no strangers to sharing the limelight with Royalty’s most glamorous couple.

A little over a year and a half ago - after winning a competition run by the East Anglian Daily Times - they tied the knot on the same day as Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

And the Royal coincidences are continuing for the Woodbridge couple, who revealed to family and friends that they were expecting their first child just hours before it emerged the Duchess of Cambridge was also pregnant.

Mr Durrant, 29, who works at Clarke and Simpson estate agents in Framlingham, said: “We couldn’t believe it. We told our parents and a few others quite early on but we let everyone else know on Monday morning.

“It was then that I received a text from someone in the early afternoon that said: ‘they’re copying you again. What is it with your Royal connections?’

“To be married on the same day was a coincidence but to share a second big moment in your life, that’s quite something else.”

Mrs Durrant, 35, a senior nurse at Ipswich Hospital, is now around 17 weeks into her pregnancy with a due date of May 29.

Her husband said she had not been quite as ill with morning sickness as the Duchess of Cambridge appeared to be. “Charlotte hasn’t been quite as ill as Kate - but she has been suffering,” he said.

He wished the Royal couple all the best over the coming months and said that both he and his wife would be keeping a close eye on how they were doing.

“It’ll be nice to follow the progress of the Royal baby - especially as it’s so close to our own,” Mr Durrant said. “We’re over the moon. It’ll be great for our little boy or girl to have a birthday so close to the future monarch.”

Although keeping tight lipped over any potential names for the new arrival Mr Durrant did not rule out the possibility of the Royal connections continuing. “William is very much a family name for us,” he said. “It’s my middle name, brother’s first name and father’s middle name.”