Kate Middleton made rare labour admission after revealing extremely difficult pregnancy

Following nine months of - by her own admission - pregnancy hell, Kate Middleton experienced a somewhat unexpected labour with one of her three children, an unearthed interview has revealed.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have three children together: sons George, 12, and Louis, 7, as well as their 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte.

Like the majority of female members of the monarchy, Kate remained rather tight-lipped over the highs and lows of pregnancy during the periods she was expecting.

Only in 2020, two years after giving birth to Prince Louis, did the Princess open up about her three pregnancies, which she described as particularly strenuous periods of her life.

Speaking to parenting influencer Giovanni Fletcher for her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast that year, Kate admitted she'd been diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

The Princess is a mother-of-three (Karwai Tang/WireImage)

For anyone unfamiliar with the condition, HG causes extreme morning sickness and ceaseless vomiting. In its most severe form, it can not only result in dehydration of the mother but also potentially trigger a premature birth of the baby.

"[It was utterly rotten]," the mother-of-three confessed at the time. "I was really sick."

Despite not disclosing which of her three pregnancies she referred to, Kate went on to add: "I wasn't eating the things I should be eating and yet the body was still able to take all the goodness from my body and to grow new life, which I think is fascinating."

It wasn't just she who was reportedly impacted by her ailing health, but her family, including her husband, Prince William.

"William didn't feel he could do much to help and it's hard to see someone suffering without actually being able to do anything about it," Kate continued.

Going on, the Princess went on to admit that, following an arduous nine months, she expected her subsequent labour to be just as bad, but was pleasantly surprised by just how smooth the process ran.

Kate claimed labour was considerably easier than pregnancy (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

"Because it had been so bad during pregnancy," she explained. "I actually really quite liked labour. Because actually it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to!"

During the interview, Kate went on to conclude: "But I know some people have really difficult times, so it's not for everybody. No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same!"

Elsewhere in the podcast, the Princess revealed that she'd used hypnobirthing, which is a mixture of self-hypnosis, relaxation and breathing techniques, during labour (via Tommy's).

"Actually, it was through hyperemesis that I really realised the power of the mind over the body because I really had to try everything to try and help me through it. There are levels of it." she said.

Adding that William wasn't 'standing there chanting sweet nothings at me', she instead wanted to try something for herself.

I saw the power of it, really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that that they teach you in hypnobirthing when I was really sick, and actually, I realised that this was something that I could take control of, I suppose, during labour. It was hugely powerful," she continued.