LONDON CROWDS SHOW THEIR JUBILATION
Baby can expect to receive four Christian names
A lot of the fuss over the royal baby was media hype, but there was a true sense of joy and jubilation late Monday as news that Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge had a son and heir was finally proclaimed at Buckingham Palace.
We may live in a time of Twitter and other social media, but several thousand spectators rushed the main gate of the venerable palace to read news of the royal birth proclaimed in the old way: on a wooden easel, painted in gold, which had been brought to the spot by a liveried footman. They also did it, of course, to get themselves photographed beside the parchment announcing the event and the signatures of the four doctors who assisted with the royal birth.
The announcement that the Royal Family had a new prince — weighing eight pounds, six ounces — first came in a news release via email shortly after 8:30 p.m. local time.
“Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4:24 p.m. Her Royal Highness and her son are both doing well,” the release said.
A short time later on Twitter, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen and prince are delighted by the news of the birth of the baby.”
This was followed by word from Prince William, who attended the birth, which took about 11 hours. He simply said: “I could not be happier.”
“Wonderful baby, new baby,” said Marcus Satchell, the royal gynecologist surgeon, who led the medical team assisting Kate with the delivery.
As happened when Prince William was born in the same wing of St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, no name for the prince was immediately revealed. The palace said the names — royal babies are usually given four Christian names — would be announced “in due course.” It did not elaborate. The favourite names for a boy, according to British betting agencies and public opinion surveys, were George and James.
There was no official explanation of why it took more than four hours after the birth before the news was revealed publicly.
Will and Kate were said by the BBC to have spent this time quietly together bonding with their baby. Underlining his commitment to his family, it was reported that William intended to spend the night at the hospital with his wife and son.
Congratulations immediately flowed in from around the world, including from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said Canadians were “delighted” at the arrival of the “future Sovereign of Canada.”
Gov. General David Johnston, joined his wife, Sharon, in offering their “warmest congratulations.”
“We know that this happy event brings great joy not only to Their Royal Highnesses, but to the entire nation as well,” Johnston said in a statement.
Proud new grandfather, Prince Charles also weighed in.
“It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy,” Charles said in a statement. “Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future.”
With the birth of a new prince, Britain is set to be ruled by three generations of kings after Queen Elizabeth is no longer on the throne. That means a new constitutional law on primogeniture, which would have for the first time allowed a first-born daughter to reign over one of the oldest kingdoms in the world, will not need to be invoked.
It is the first time since the latter days of Queen Victoria’s reign that there are three heirs in the direct line of succession to the throne. Prince Charles and Prince William will now be followed by the new prince.
Prince Henry of Wales, better known as Prince Harry, had been third in the line of succession. Harry, who may soon return to Afghanistan as an army pilot, has been knocked back a spot to fourth in the line to the throne. Prince Andrew moves down from fourth place to fifth place.
Among the hundreds celebrating the royal birth outside Buckingham Palace were several Canadians.
“It’s history,” said Stella Plant from North Vancouver, who was born in Britain and was on hand in London on Monday. “It is unifying and shows how much the British support the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth.”
“I grew up with Queen Elizabeth’s father (George VI) as king and am extremely excited to be here for this,” said Gail King of Oakville, Ont. “I am still upset with Canada for changing the flag and getting rid of the Union Jack in the corner. Thank goodness Ontario kept it.”
“We ridicule tradition a lot, but what brings us together as families and societies is tradition,” said actress Wendy Peace of Toronto, who was clad in a faded Maple Leafs jersey as she took her Great Dane for a walk past the palace. “I find it amusing but I am more interested, I guess, than Americans because I grew up singing God Save the Queen in school.”
The baby’s birth will be proclaimed Tuesday in a 62-gun salute in the City of London and a 41-gun salute in the royal parks and other places across the kingdom.
The monarchs of Belgium and the Netherlands have recently abdicated, allowing their children to ascend their thrones. This is not thought likely to happen in the United Kingdom. Even as a teenager, Princess Elizabeth made it known that because of her sense of duty to the Empire (later the Commonwealth) she intended to rule for her lifetime.
Given the longevity of the 87-year-old Queen and the fact that William is only 31, the newest prince may not become monarch for 60 or 70 years. But support for the monarchy in Britain climbed to 76 per cent during Kate’s pregnancy and is likely to remain at least that high for some time to come.
The popularity of the Royal Family took a dip after Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced but since Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in 1997, the monarchy has been on the rebound. This was highlighted during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee last year, which concluded with a trip by royal barge down the Thames, brought out millions in the rain to celebrate the occasion.
The childhood of every future king or queen’s life has been a fish bowl for decades but there will be unknown, potentially difficult dimensions added by social media that exists already and in the future. A deal had sometimes protected Prince William from intense media attention when he was a toddler, but that broke down for a while in his youth before the media more or less gave him some space while he attended university and began to see the then-Kate Middleton.
But this is a new media world, with lots of new players and the advent of telephones that will be able to communicate broadcast quality images instantly from anywhere. There will be less time lag when things go well or badly. It is an international game and foreign journalists may be even less respectful of the royals right to some privacy.
The young prince will have a very public life, although it is likely his parents will try to shelter him as much as possible by staying with Kate’s parents who, while very wealthy, are commoners and seem sensible and fairly well grounded. Still, the child will be brought up in palaces and attend elite private schools and, inevitably, serve in the armed forces like his father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather. It will not always be possible to escape the eyes of the paparazzi.