Duchess: Hoping for baby boy, William wants girl

Britain's Kate Duchess of Cambridge, third left, stands with her husband Prince William, fourth left, before presenting traditional sprigs of shamrock to members of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at the St Patrick’s Day Parade at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, England.

LONDON — The Duchess of Cambridge said today that she doesn't know the sex of her first child — but she hopes it's a boy.

Her husband Prince William, however, would prefer a girl.

The former Kate Middleton, who is five months pregnant, made the revelation to a soldier at a St. Patrick's Day ceremony honoring the Irish Guards.

"I asked her ‘do you know if it's a girl or boy?’ and she said ‘not yet,’” said Guardsman Lee Wheeler.

“She said ‘I'd like to have a boy and William would like a girl.’”

Wheeler said the duchess told him the couple had not settled on names for the baby, who will be third in line to the British throne.

The duchess wore a green dress coat and a shamrock lapel pin as she presented sprigs of shamrock to soldiers in the annual ceremony at a barracks in Aldershot, southern England. She also pinned a spring on the collar of the regiment's mascot, an Irish wolfhound named Domhnall.

Kate suffered a minor mishap when one of her high heels became briefly stuck in a drainage grille. The duchess leaned on her husband as she wrenched it loose.

The royal St. Patrick's Day tradition was started by Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII, in 1901.