I'm happy to report that for the final column of this semester, I have the year's biggest news to announce: Kate Middleton is pregnant! The royal news was officially announced by the palace last Monday, prompting an end to the "Is she/Isn't she?" rumor mill that's been spinning since the couple wed in one of 2011's most lavish and elaborate ceremonies.

The announcement of a new royal baby seems to be the missing piece in the duo's perfect puzzle: the current Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are college sweethearts, and the British and international public alike have been enamored with the modern-day love story of royalty and commoner. Regardless of the gender of the new addition the baby will be heir to the throne. As Prime Minister David Cameron explained, "Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen."

While the entirety of the pop culture world spent the past week buzzing over potential baby names and just how many buns Kate has in the oven, the expectant mum has been cooped up at King Edward VII Hospital in London after suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum. Basically, Kate is suffering from a "rare but acute" form of morning sickness that results in dehydration and weight loss. Experts also claim that since the illness can be associated with having twins, which indicates that the British style icon is possibly carrying more than one heir. Not sure if I buy an explanation based in such uncertainties, but it's fun to imagine!

Unfortunately, news of Will and Kate as parents-to-be was overshadowed by another event-the now-infamous prank call that resulted in a nurse's apparent suicide. On Dec. 4, one day after the palace's huge announcement, DJ's Mel Greig and Michael Christian from Australia's 2DayFM, phoned the hospital where Kate was staying. The hosts impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, with the hopes that they would end up speaking directly with either of the expectant parents. The innocently-intentioned prank became foul play when Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who initially answered the "hoax call," was found dead this past Thursday in a suspected suicide.

For their part, the disk jockeys are removing themselves from the situation as best they can. Australian media company Southern Cross Austereo released a statement expressing their sympathies to the family of Saldanha and "all that have been affected by this situation around the world." It adds that the hosts "have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy."

Since there is currently no conclusive evidence that Saldanha's death was linked to the radio prank, the situation begs the question-is anyone at fault here? Was anyone acting in the wrong? Hopefully, this tragedy will be put to rest so we can all focus on the real reason 2012 was so great-Kate's pregnancy!