When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stopped, unexpectedly, to admire a cute baby at an event in London on Thursday, the spontaneous gesture delighted onlookers. It also gave London's tabloids plenty to showcase on Friday morning.
The Daily Telegraph and other London papers featured the shot on their Friday covers, fuelling more speculation of pregnancy rumours among royal watchers around the world.
Those rumours have been swirling in the weeks leading up to the couple's first year anniversary on April 29, 2012.
"It looks pretty propitious," royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said on Friday on CTV's Canada AM.
"They do want a family," Fitzwilliams said via satellite from London, England.
When that announcement will finally come is anyone's guess. For now, however, the couple's first year of married life has been deemed a great a success by the media and royal insiders, according to Fitzwilliams.
"What a triumph this marriage has been," said Fitzwilliams.
"They're happy. They're mutually supportive," he said.
That was not the case after Prince Charles wed William's mother, Lady Diana Spencer, on July 29, 1981 in a fairytale ceremony held at London's St. Paul's Cathedral.
Things quickly began to unravel for those newlyweds as the 20-year-old princess stole the limelight from Charles. That reality, particularly among the press, launched a palpable sense of competition between the two royals that lasted for years.
By contrast, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have now become the poster couple for young royals in love.
"Lessons have been learned," said Fitzwilliams.
Their wedding at London's Westminster Abbey was a world spectacle. But unlike royal weddings of the past, these nuptials cast the British monarchy in a much more down-to-earth light.
Prior to their big day, Prince William stated that royal purse strings would be kept in check for this wedding. That commitment from William and fiancée Kate played well to crowds and showed real awareness of the tough economic times around the world.
Their historic wedding also confirmed, once and for all, that "commoner" Kate was up to pressures of royal life.
"She has adapted remarkably well," said Fitzwilliams.
"She has poise. She has beauty. She has become a fashion icon," he said. With her husband's help, Catherine been eased into royal life in a way that Princess Diana was not.
That mutual support between William and Catherine was unmistakable when the royals made their first official tour to Canada in 2011.
From donning cowboy hats at the Calgary Stampede to talking, at length, to people in the crowds, the couple's total sense of ease with one another made an impression.
Red carpet appearances followed over the year, such as film openings and swank charitable dinners. But on each occasion, this couple presented the image of a strong, united husband and wife.
That achievement alone deserves kudos for any couple living in the public eye, according to Fitzwilliams.
William and Catherine have faced challenges throughout their first year of married life.
William was deployed to the Falkland Islands for several weeks early in the spring.
Catherine made her first official appearances without her husband during that time and passed with flying colours.
The royals plan to celebrate their first anniversary on Sunday in private, palace officials said. But Fitzwilliams believes they will look back with satisfaction.
"Will and Kate are the future of the monarchy," said Fitzwilliams.
"I think they'll be looking back on a year that's gone wonderfully well," he said.
