The secret is out!

Carole Middleton is going to be one busy granny by the sounds of things. The Duchess of Cambridge's mother is gracing the cover of the latest issue of Good Housekeeping, and in a candid interview with the magazine, reveals how one of her main hopes for this year – after having been on lockdown for much of 2020 – is to be able to spend more time with her growing family. "I hope to see more of my family than I could last year, including, of course, my new grandchild." And with this, the 66-year-old seems to confirm what the rumour mills have been saying for a while now, that her daughter Pippa Middleton is indeed expecting her second child. Carole, who lives in Berkshire with her husband, Michael, told the magazine she is a "very hands-on" grandmother to Kate's children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, as well as Pippa's firstborn, Arthur, who, just like his cousin, Louis, is also two. Clearly loving her role as grandmother, Carole explains:

"I want to run down the hills, climb the trees, and go through the tunnel at the playground. As long as I am able to, that's what I'll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides."

The Duchess' mother said she would hope to pass down a love of the countryside to her grandchildren, and hoped she could help them "really see the value of being able to appreciate nature and be active outdoors."

Describing herself as "very family-orientated," Carole said she has always 'tried hard to be a listening grandmother and mother-in-law' to Prince William, 38, and Pippa's husband James Matthews.

Loving her role as a family matriarch, Carole says: "That is why we are all still close, because our relationship has evolved as my children have had children. I've learned to be a wise grandmother, I hope." On coping with being apart from family during the pandemic, she says she and Michael were lucky to get to spend lots of time with son James and his girlfriend Alizee, as they moved in with the Middletons to their Berkshire home ahead of the first lockdown. As for the rest of the family, it seems, like the rest of us, they kept int ouch via FaceTime and Zoom.

Carole explained that as a family, they had all become "good at doing video calls" and had done "a lot of quizzes" which became "very competitive."

In the light of the recent week, according to the Daily Mail, Carole has asked the publishers of the magazine not to promote the cover with her, over fears it will look "insensitive" while Prince Philip is battling ill-health in hospital.