Kate Middleton is six months pregnant and her due date is mid July

Kate Middleton is already six months pregnant but she appears to be almost as slim as ever, with the merest hint of a baby bump.

The Duchess of Cambridge looked slim as she played basketball and table tennis as she visited a homeless shelter in Glasgow this week with Prince William.

Dressed in a chic tartan coat and her trademark black suede boots, Kate Middleton was unusually happy to reveal details about her condition saying she plans to go on maternity leave from her royal duties from “around June time”.

The duchess, who is six months’ pregnant, also revealed that her due date is “around mid-July” – a slightly more precise hint than the official announcement.

St James’s Palace has previously only confirmed the royal couple’s baby will be born “in July”, with officials refusing to give the exact due date.

Kate Middleton, 31, also said that she and Prince William had drawn up a list of boys’ and girls’ names for their first child – and that she has taken up knitting. “I’ve been trying to knit and I’m really bad. I should be asking for tips,” the duchess said.

When Rachel Sawyer, a project manager at Glasgow shelter, asked when her due date was and if she had any names, Kate Middleton replied: “It’s around mid-July but apparently babies have their own agenda …

“We have a shortlist for both [boy and girl] but it’s very difficult. My friends keep texting me names.”

When asked if she had got her nursery ready, Kate Middleton smiled and said: “No… we have got a lot to do!”

During the visit, the duchess also got an unusual insight into being a mother – from an eight-month-old baby with a taste for flowers. Kate Middleton chatted to Heidi Addison and her mother Shirley, who had a bouquet of flowers to give to the duchess, while they were in a crowd outside a sports centre.