Instagram stars of a scripted mini series
As they share pictures on their own social media feed...
THeRe she was, a goddess standing proud in the wilds of Windsor, her regal bearing undiluted by the spring rains. no, it was not the Queen, but a queen of sorts: sky news presenter Kay Burley on a live TV broadcast, fresh from scaling Mount snowdon and still wearing her climbing gloves to prove it.
‘do you want to say hello to the new royal baby?’ she cried to viewers, as if the tot might be tucked inside her anorak, along with a half bottle of gin and a slice of Kendal Mint Cake.
yes please, we all roared back. show us the baby! after all, we have been ever so patient. Harry was born a prince, but irritatingly he has become a sultan of the smokescreen; the frantic keeper of royal secrets, some important and therefore understandable, but others which seem infinitesimally trivial.
With Meghan’s encouragement, the birth of archie has been played out like a made for TV miniseries, just like her television legal drama suits.
The public have been fed episodic titbits, complete with cliffhangers, plot twists, red herrings and the big reveal.
so far we have had: secret Morning Baby; The ‘ In Labour’ untruth; Where is Mum?; Home Birth Half Truths; The Baby Is Born; Look at Our Baby, now Go away, and finally, The naming of the Baby.
yesterday’s penultimate episode featured a twominute photocall that somehow managed to be utterly joyous yet also a little bland and controlling.
at the couple’s insistence, there were only three media outlets allowed into Windsor Castle for the announcement – one of them being the american network CBs, where Meghan’s dear friend Gayle King is the star anchor.
‘not the big Lindo Wing media opportunity,’ noted sky royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills, marooned with Kay Burley miles away in a sodden field. Indeed.
It was perfectly timed to hit the allimportant breakfast bulletins in america, where King, who was a guest at Meghan’s baby shower, could hardly contain herself.
‘Hey baby, hey baby indeed!’ she roared on CBs This Morning as the pictures were beamed live across the atlantic. ‘I see he has a nose, I see one eye. I want to see his face. I want to know, has he got red hair?’
Come on. didn’t she meet Harry at the wedding?
Inside the formal grandeur of st George’s Hall, the duke and duchess of sussex beamed with the giddy elation of new parents a charming sight.
Only one interviewer had been granted permission to ask questions, so long as he didn’t ask any questions about the birth, the location of the birth, the reason for all the mad subterfuge and a million other fascinating topics.
This delicate duty fell to the unseen alan Jones of the Press association.
He went for a chilled and friendly vibe, calling the couple ‘ you guys’ as if he was delivering their beers poolside.
This seemed a bold approach, but on he charged; pathetically grateful for the 120 seconds of airtime royally bequeathed upon the nation.
‘Thanks for taking the time out, I know you guys must be really,
really busy, but tell us about being a mum and Baby sussex,’ he began. He also asked if the baby was sleeping well, who he took after, what ‘parenting was like’ and whether they were off to see the Queen soon.
Magic, amazing, happy and yes, were the various responses.
‘We want to spend precious time with him as he slowly starts to grow up,’ said Harry cradling his son in a muffling cocoon of cashmere that the cameras could not penetrate.
‘Can we have a little peek?’ the interviewer asked, desperate for a clearer view of the baby.
Prince Harry lowered the shawl a fraction of an inch, then pushed it back up again.
after all the fuss, Harry and Meghan ultimately found it in themselves to perform all the regal television duties that royal audiences love and expect; the babe in arms, the tired smiles, the graceful acceptance of the new parent platitudes.
The warmth and cheers from the massed public crowds were missing, but as sky’s Rhiannon Mills explained, they are a couple who have become an ‘enormous international phenomenon’ who want to do things their own, private and discreet way. also, via Instagram.
Meanwhile, on CBs, Gayle King was boasting about a ‘royal special I filmed in Windsor last week’ in which she must have had pretty good access. ‘Harry calls the Queen Granny. I’ve heard him call her Granny,’ she chummily informed her 3.2million viewers.
To be continued.