Kate Middleton Carrying Emergency Barf Bags

Preggers Kate Middleton is so stricken with nauseating morning sickness, she’s carrying emergency sick bags in her purse!

Still, the courageous duchess insisted on attending a World Mental Health Day reception at Buckingham Palace, despite the hyperemesis gravidarum sickness roiling her stomach — and sending her running to the restroom every half hour!

“I am a real mother and these things happen,” she told friends. “So what — people would see that I am not some kind of Disney princess or Barbie doll!”

But that’s exactly what the royal family didn’t want to happen! Prince William “and palace minions were terrified she might vomit in public,” notes a royal insider. “But she has an enormous devotion to mental health issues and nothing was going to stop her from joining this event.”

At the reception, Kate was “carrying a barf bag in her purse” and special trash bins fitted with odor-eating liners were set out “in case she couldn’t make it to the ladies’ room on time,” says the insider.

Kate’s surprise appearance was supposed to signal her return to the public eye, but sadly revealed a sickly duchess stricken with vomiting fits. She suffered from severe morning sickness during her pregnancies with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, but this time it’s worse!

The biggest danger from the constant heaves is dehydration. If the mother can’t hold down enough food and liquid, the child can end up damaged with developmental issues. In addition to her emergency royal barf bag, William’s wife also carried ginger candy and pure ginger leaves to suck on to reduce her nausea.

“She subtly visited the restroom periodically, supposedly to ‘freshen up’ — but really to make sure she wouldn’t be hit with a gagging fit in front of everyone,” says the source. “Kate was being amazingly brave.”