the expectant birth of Royal child [to Prince Williams and Kate] - and expected economic surge

The ways of rich and famous is vastly different those of ordinary mortals….   Champagne, luxury toiletries and a reclining chair for daddy — just some of the extras in the plush maternity unit where a child birth is to take place ……. Certainly not of any ordinary person……. The mother is taken care of at the internationally renowned Lindo Wing and when the baby is born, top chefs will be on hand to whip up whatever the parents fancy to eat. The baby is due any day now and the cost of a suite at the unit is £6,265 for a one-night stay with no complications and £2,200 for each extra night. The entire United Kingdom is waiting for the Royal baby.

The expectant mother is no ordinary person – it is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth "Kate"; née Middleton) the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the thrones, after his father, of the 16 Commonwealth realms; and the Duchess is expected to eventually become queen consort. The high profile marriage took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Catherine has had a major impact upon British fashion which has been termed the "Kate Middleton effect", and in 2012, was selected as one of The 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time.

It is she, the expectant mother….. the Royal baby will have the title His Royal Highness Prince [first name] of Cambridge, or Her Royal Highness Princess [first name] of Cambridge ~ as the entire UK is debating whether it will be He or She.  The official title of William and Kate's first child, thought to be due on Saturday, 13 July, will be His or Her Royal Highness Prince or Princess [first name] of Cambridge, following the Dukedom gifted to William and his wife by the Queen as a wedding present in 2011.

The baby will be born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, where William was born in 1982. However, the royal baby will not be the first Prince or Princess of Cambridge. The last royals to hold the title were Prince George, Princess Augusta and Princess Mary of Cambridge, the grandchildren of George III, in the 19th century. The children were born to Prince Adolphus - the tenth child of King George III - and his wife Princess Augusta, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. All their children, born in 1819, 1822, 1833 were born His or Her Royal Highness Prince or Princess of Cambridge. The title Duke of Cambridge is part of the peerage, a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom. The ranks of the English peerage are, from highest to lowest, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron.

The Great Seal of the Realm, which makes the bestowed title official, is an ancient seal used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents and legitimatise them. This is not entirely about the  birth of a new child, its peerage or the heritage value they have in UK………… but what Firstpost today reports as what it could do to the economy ~ a multi-million dollar boost to the UK economy. Firstpost reports quoting a new report from the Center for Retail Research,  Kate Middleton and Prince William’s royal baby will be worth $376 million as soon as it arrives.

How have they reached this number? It is based on the value of what the newborn will bring the British economy in festivities, books, baby merchandise, tourism and souvenirs. The report predicts, that with the birth of the royal baby, Brits will spend an extra £62 million ($94 million) on alcohol and £80 million ($121 million) on souvenirs and toys over the next two months. So, how is Britain’s stores using this to their advantage?

From restaurants to baby shops– everyone’s offering services to make soon-to-be parents in Britain feel special. A CNBC report notes, hotels and restaurants are offering Royal Baby showers designed to make pregnant women feel like duchesses. The shop at Highgrove, Prince Charles’s home, is selling handmade leather shoes for babies at $34 a pair. In fact, sales of maternity dresses also soared once Kate Middleton was snapped wearing them………. Then  there’s betting. Thanks to bets placed on the baby’s name, the betting business has a protracted selling window. According to the CNBC article, Alexandra and George are currently in the lead, while bets are also being placed on the baby’s hair colour (brown, unsurprisingly, is ahead).

The Royal Mint has also announced that babies born in Britain on the same day as Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first child will receive a royal gift — a “lucky” silver penny. In fact, it has minted 2,013 commemorative coins to give to babies who share a birthday with the third in line to the British throne. Meanwhile, Britain’s Daily Mail has reported that the Royal Baby will be distantly related to other kinds of royalty – specifically to pop royalty, in the form of Beyonce and Jay Z, and to Hollywood royalty, in the form of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The paper quotes research from the online family tree website findmypast.co.uk, which used a computer genealogy program to trace the roots of various celebrities. According to a Yahoo! report, the baby, currently dubbed HRH Prince or Princess, will also be the 27th cousin to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s six children, the 26th cousin (thrice removed) to Celine Dion’s three kids, the 11th cousin to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s three offspring, the 20th cousin (twice removed) to Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard’s two daughters, and the 22nd cousin to Uma Thurman’s three children.

So, the baby is glaring so much of media attention even before it is born……

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

11^th July 2013.