2013: The Year of the Royal Baby
Just as everyone had recovered from the royal wedding in 2011, the Jubilee last summer gave the country another opportunity for a knees-up. If the last couple of years haven’t already been busy enough for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, 2013 is set to be the year of the royal baby.
A spokesperson confirmed that the baby is due in July, which at least gives Prince William and Kate Middleton a few months to sort out some baby room decorations (looking to make your own household additions? There’s a fantastic range of bedroom furniture at Littlewoods). But at the same time, the intervening months will see the couple subjected to an unprecedented level of public interest.
William and Kate have improved the image of the Royal Family in recent years, with their aura of relative accessibility helping to wear down our usual perception of the monarchy as somewhat removed from the everyday world. Perhaps this is an inevitable result of social media, where the emphasis is on removing the barrier between celebrities and their fans; the feeling of connecting with your favourite sports star, musician or actor can be more effective than any amount of PR. The regularly-updated official @BritishMonarchy Twitter handle is but one example of this, with over 440,000 followers. Similarly, its Facebook counterpart boasts over 600,000 fans.
The imminent ‘Royal baby mania’ is set to take the nation’s fascination to another level. One particularly entertaining manifestation of this can be seen in the wide range of novelty bets offered by various bookmakers. Whatever aspect of the birth you’ve got a good hunch on, whether it’s the day of week he/she enters the world, the colour of the hair, or which magazine gets first picture rights, someone is taking bets on it. Naturally, the most popular wager is on the baby’s name, with Diana, George and Victoria currently leading the pack. More adventurous Royal enthusiasts might want to take a punt on Chardonnay or Waynetta at 1000/1…
