Britain’s excitement as they wait for the third in line
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Millions of people, including tourists from around the world, who were interviewed on television on Friday, expressed their joy for the birth of the first baby of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It had been widely speculated that Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, was due to be in hospital over the weekend to have the baby. The media laid siege, awaiting Kate’s arrival at the 6,000 pounds per night St Mary’s Hospital where the baby was due to be born.
With all the speculations which made the rounds and the hordes of newsmen and their cameras that camped at the vicinity of the St. Mary’s Hospital in London, last weekend must have been an unsettling one for the royal couple, particularly the expectant mother.
With the pain of labour on her mind, which expectant mother would not feel nervous to see all eyes as well as the most powerful cameras lined up to catch the moments she goes in and out of hospital to have her baby. For the young woman bearing the strain of having her first baby, such prying eyes would be a bit too much.
One thing was clear to me though. The media, no matter which part of the globe they find themselves, have one thing in common – curious eyes. Once there is a tinge of possibility in a story making the rounds, they throng there hoping to be the first to get the scoop out to the world.
No wonder that in the sweltering summer temperature, the media, both local and foreign, took every available space they could find outside the hospital where it was being speculated that the royal baby was to be born.
Watching the bivouac of the media outside the St Mary’s Hospital on television last Friday night, I could not imagine how such speculation could trigger the kind of media reaction one was witnessing on television.
I spoke to a Ghanaian-born British Consultant Obstetrician with the Royal College of Obstetricians, I got the sense that even though doctors do indeed calculate the dates for the delivery of a baby, there is always a margin of error of one to ten days because in the first place, expectant mothers do sometimes make mistakes in calculating their last day of menstruation and when that happens, there is always the difficulty in calculating the exact date for delivery. He added, “Some babies arrive earlier, others arrive right on time, while others delay”, he said.
And so the weekend has passed as I write this piece on Monday, July 15. There is no news of the arrival of the royal baby, the third in line to the British throne to be born in the year of the Queen’s 60th coronation anniversary. One good news though is clear – a rekindled interest in the British royalty.
There is no doubt that the new generation of young royals has brought some reinvigoration into the monarchy and a lot more confidence booster to the Queen as head of the centuries-old monarchy. At some stage, and definitely in the early 90s, it seemed like many had lost interest in the British establishment.
There were quite a number of bad press. Some called for the abolition of the monarchy which they argued had outlived its usefulness. The argument of others was focused on the unnecessary expense of the institution on the public purse. Some even argued about their insignificance to modern age.
I have always begged to differ. I am probably one of the few protagonists of the British monarchy. British royalty has been part of the rich history of the Brits and it still is. It is one of the strongest few left in Europe and many tourists from around the world would come to Britain mainly for the reason of visiting the Buckingham Palace, the closest they can get to the British monarchy.
Today, more than ever before, Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as some of the young royals have brought fresh interest and perhaps some relevance to the monarchy. They have given a kind of magnetic feel to the centuries-old monarchy. No wonder the birth of their first baby, the third in line to the throne, has attracted such a huge interest not only in Britain but across the world.
The bookies are already busy at it predicting the sex of the baby. As for the names, there has been plenty of suggestions. There are those who have rightly predicted British royal names for a future king or queen. But there are also others who have made fun around it suggesting some psychedelic names that normal parents of today would give to their babies.
As the British await the birth of their future king or queen, I would like to join in the enthusiasm to wish the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge well. My suggestion of name is Victoria, if it is a girl and Victor if it is a boy.
By Vicky Wireko/Ghana
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