Despite our best efforts to scotch the persistent rumour that Kate Middleton has Jewish ancestry, it is proving hard to kill.

An Iranian news agency Mehrnews.com recently reported that the royal family’s “new bride is a Jew” and thus would be her offspring.

“Although in the wedding ceremony it was pretended that Kate Middleton is Christian, this lady’s family roots show that she is considered a Sephardic Jew from her mother’s side,” Mehrnews said.

Of course, I would have had to eat my kippah if the new prince had been named Yitz or Yankel (rather than George Alexander Louis). Or if the Duchess of Cambridge’s nearest and dearest had wished her — as one reader suggested — “Middle tov, Kate.”