MILLIONS IN BETS ON ‘BABY SUSSEX’
Betting on royal babies seen as harmless fun and an acceptable age-old tradition
ON the Paddy Power betting website, more than US$325,000 (RM1.3 million) hinged on a single unborn baby.
When will it arrive? What will its name be? The shortest odds were on (1) this week and (2) Diana.
But isn’t it kind of icky to put money down on a woman’s pregnancy? Even if that woman is Meghan Markle, arguably the most famous American in Britain and definitely the best-known actress turned duchess there? Even
if the baby is a royal baby?
“The idea of tens of thousands of strangers voting on the sex of your unborn baby is frankly bizarre, but it’s part of the buildup to a royal birth and an acceptable part of the narrative,” said Katie Nicholl, who comments on the royals for a living and wrote a book titled Harry and Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love.
“It’s generally seen as harmless fun and an age-old tradition that’s synonymous with royal births.”
It’s also a chance to make a lot of money off a newborn.
Last year’s wedding of Prince Harry and Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was popular with gamblers.
There were guesses about her dress (Givenchy), his beard (intact) and the weather (lovely).
But there are far more bets on Baby Sussex, who will be seventh in line to the throne. At the bookmaker William Hill, wagers are expected to reach US$1.3 million. Another bookmaker, Boyle Sports, is taking bets on categories like the baby’s godparents and weight.
That’s more action than for each of the baby’s three royal cousins — the children of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William, Harry’s brother — who are third through fifth in the succession lineup.
On the BookMaker.eu website, odds favour the baby being born in the morning on a Sunday, said Angus Hamilton, an entertainment specialist for the sports betting platform.
The betting market for royal babies was not enormous, Hamilton said. On BookMaker.eu, there was less than US$100,000 in related wagers, compared with US$1 million in bets the Oscars sometimes draw on the day of the ceremony.
“It’s not college basketball or the Super Bowl, but it’s a bit of fun,” he said. “Royal babies are big news in the UK, but people are excited about this one in particular.”
That’s why Tilletts, a jeweller in Norwich, is marking the birth by charging US$5,500 for a jar of diaper rash cream. The lid is made of silver, engraved with the British and American flags and set with diamonds, inspired by “the sparkling warmth and charm of Meghan’s personality”. Proceeds go to Ickle Pickles, a providing intensive care equipment for premature babies.
Baby Sussex is expected to be an economic stimulus for British pubs, restaurants, souvenir shops and museums, with an uptick in tourists, especially from the United States, said Richard Haigh, the managing director of Brand Finance, a consulting firm.
Last year, it estimated that the Sussex wedding fuelled US$1.5 billion in spending.
Immediately after the birth, sales of memorabilia and other baby-related products could reach nearly US$100 million in Britain and the rest of Europe, with some related spending in North America, according to the Center for Retail Research in Norwich.
In the child’s first five years, the Center for Retail Research expects nearly US$800 million in spending on Sussex-inspired children’s wear and infant products. In the first two years, more than US$130 million of those purchases will stem from the US.
The Sussexes have had a complicated relationship with public attention and have opted to shun the traditional photo opportunity after the birth. In the past, these first moments in the glare of the press have given makers of dresses and shawls adorning the mother and baby unparalleled publicity on newspaper front pages.
But Markle will not be in seclusion. In the waning weeks of the pregnancy, the Sussexes started an Instagram account, which they used to ask well-wishers to donate to charities rather than send baby gifts.