The imminent birth of Britain's royal baby will be announced
on a golden easel and hailed by cannon fire
-- but royal-watchers say that
behind the pomp Prince William and Catherine will be trying to balance
tradition with modern parenting.
The couple, both 31, have been widely portrayed as a 21st
century royal couple who will deal with the dirty diapers and sleepless nights
like any ordinary mother and father around the world.
But observers warn that even if they avoid dispatching the
baby to the nursery like earlier generations of "The Firm", the
responsibilities and pressures of monarchy will still get in the way.
"We keep being told that their parents want to give
them a normal upbringing," Patrick Jephson, the former private secretary
to William's late mother Princess Diana, told AFP.
"In some vague sense we are supposed to approve of the
notion. But I'm afraid the truth is they're not normal and never can be
normal."
Britain's royal family are famed for their stiff upper lip,
but by all accounts in the generations before William that was largely forged
by childhoods spent with nannies and in boarding schools instead of with
parents.
Reports that Kate and her baby would spend the first six
weeks at her parents' home fuelled the idea that Britain's newest royal might
begin life like any other child, although security fears have raised doubts
over whether this will happen.
While the Middletons are millionaires, they earned their
money in business and appear to be a close-knit family with none of the
formality of the royals.
Until now, William and Kate have been living relatively
modestly in a remote farmhouse in Anglesey, north Wales, where William works as
a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.
The couple will eventually move into Kensington Palace in
London, but building renovations -- which have already cost taxpayers £1
million -- are not expected to be finished before the birth.
Wherever the baby first lays its head, commentators agree
that William and Kate will want to be "hands on" parents.
Kate is seen as a natural with children. She once toyed with
the idea of setting up a junior fashion label, and spent her second wedding
anniversary visiting a children's hospice.
But whether she chooses to break with royal tradition and
forego a full-time nanny remains to be seen.
"Although Kate has professed that she doesn't want
nannies, and wants to do it on her own, that's before she's facing six months
of sleepless nights," Claire Irvin, Editor-in-chief of Mother & Baby
magazine, told AFP.
"But she is quite modern and doesn't seem to want huge
entourages of help."
Phil Dampier, a royal reporter for 28 years and author of
"What's in the Queen's Handbag", believes the couple may have little
choice.
He expects William will soon increase his royal duties, as
his elderly grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip ease theirs, and
says the couple will need support at home.
"William will want to do his share of changing the
nappies," he said, but added: "I think they will have to have a
full-time nanny even if they don't want one."
Gone are the days, however, when royal children seldom saw
their parents and lived in virtual seclusion.
The queen and her sister Margaret were educated at home by a
governess while William's father Prince Charles was not only said to have been
starved of affection as a boy but also famously miserable at the tough Scottish
boarding school Gordonstoun.
Diana can take much of the credit for breaking that mould.
She took William on a royal tour to Australia when he was still a baby and made
sure he and his younger brother Harry did "normal" things -- even
though they both went to Eton College, one of Britain's most exclusive boarding
schools.
"She took them to see the homeless and gave them normal
treats like trips to Alton Towers (theme park)... I'm sure Will and Kate will
want to do the same," Dampier said.
Diana's legacy will doubtless also affect Kate and William's
relationship with the press, and their determination to weigh privacy against
public expectation.
William was 15 when his mother died in a car crash in Paris
while being pursued by photographers.
But with the global appetite for William and Kate's story
showing no sign of fading, keeping their offspring out of the spotlight could
prove a test even for the media-savvy young royals.
"The interest in this baby is already absolutely off
the scale," said Dampier.
"I have never known so much interest in the royal
family. It's an extraordinary real life soap opera and it's not going to stop
any time soon."
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