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As royal visits go, this was one that couldn't have been more perfect if it tried. The Duchess of Cambridge was in Stoke-on-Trent to visit the headquarters of Emma Bridgewater, a pottery company that specialises in the artfully pretty designs she so loves.

But Kate, who is seven months pregnant with her second child and was ferried to the engagement on a helicopter, wasn't there to pick up accessories for her newly renovated kitchen at Anmer Hall in Norfolk.