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The announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William are expecting their first child caps off an eventful year for the couple, all of it in the bright glare of intense media focus.
And as the young royals prepare for this new chapter in their lives, the plague of paparazzi that has trailed them is only likely to get worse.
The announcement has generated a frenzy. Right now the English newspapers are in heaven, splashing a torrent of images and features as they devote copious column inches to Kate Middleton.
Granted, the public wants to know that the third in line to the throne is on the way. But you have to give journalists credit for thinking up such a wide variety of features.
The worst of the tabloids, The Sun, went with the headline “Kate Expectations”, announcing with relish how the Duchess is “severely sick”, her hospital admittance so early a sure sign that twins are on the way. It then spent a hefty part of the article discussing betting odds for what name they might give the child (Elizabeth is the favourite at 8/1). And, just for fun, it also featured illustrations of what the baby might look like by amalgamating photographs of the mother and father to form a disturbing infant hybrid.
The Daily Mail labelled today’s copy a “Royal Baby Special Edition”, and went with the headline “A nation’s joy, a husband’s nerves”. Even the broadsheets joined in the fun: The Telegraph provided a less than fascinating piece on the hospital Kate is currently at and another enthused on how the “Royal baby is a timely bonus to tourism”.
I dread to think of the cheap baby merchandise lining the stalls of Westminster and Southwark.
Is all this really necessary? Can’t we just leave them in peace?
After the tragic death of Diana, Prince William vowed to fight any invasion of his and his wife’s privacy. Three months ago he sued the French magazine Closer for printing photographs of the Duchess sun-bathing topless while on holiday at the Château d’Autet.
Kate Middleton is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. That’s approximately six months for little “Elizabeth” to enjoy some peace before she is born into a world of ruthless media obsession that her father and grandfather struggled against for years.
Lord Justice Leveson just released the Leveson Report, the eighth so far into how the media should be regulated in the UK: what kind of media will the third in line to the throne grow up to experience?
