The announcement that we have all been longing to hear has finally been released. Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a healthy baby boy who will, one day, be our King. The media has been in a frenzy since the moment the Duchess of Cambridge had to prematurely announce her pregnancy in December of last year after being admitted to hospital with an acute form of morning sickness.
With the apparent ‘due date’ getting closer, over the past few weeks photographers, writers, journalists, cameramen and the general public have gathered outside the Lino Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in anticipation of the birth of our future monarch. Now that the news of the birth has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace, ‘twittersphere’ has been flooded with messages of congratulations and celebration for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on this royal birth. We can certainly assume that the media attention will not be slowing down anytime soon.
So what can we anticipate for the new Prince and the media attention in these early stages? From the moment that Prince William was born in 1982, and carried outside of St Mary’s Hospital by his parents for the media world to see, it was soon understood that he would be brought up away from the cameras for a significant amount of time. Princess Diana encouraged a normal childhood for her sons, allowing them the fun that any childhood should entail, with skiing holidays, visits to theme parks and fast food restaurants. Photographers were allowed an insight into Prince William and Prince Harry’s childhoods at Kensington Palace with planned media sessions by their parents and the Royal Household. These sessions included that charming moment when Prince William crawled hurriedly towards some photographers in the gardens of his family home, whilst his mother laughed and held onto his feet to stop him from dashing away.
The Duchess of Cambridge was brought up in a close family home in rural Bucklebury with the support and stability of her parents and siblings. With their own childhoods in mind, we can presume that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will try to create as much normality for the new prince as possible, with a limited amount of press footage in these early times.
The new parents understood the great media interest in their child’s life even before he was born. Now with the announcement of the birth we can expect and respect the royals to be allowed to cherish these early moments with their new born in private. From now on, this child’s every step will be noted and projected throughout the media, and with this it is understandable that the Duke and Duchess will regulate the amount of spotlight that is put on their son.
Although this child will grow up learning their role for later life as ruler over Britain and the Commonwealth, for now, we must remember that this is the Duke and Duchess’ first child together and it is a time of celebration and best wishes for the royal couple as they take their first steps into parenthood.
Photo: Robert Jonson/Twitter.
