Tuesday 23 July 2013

A right royal fuss!

Why should I be different? Everywhere I look there are comments about the new British Royal Baby - yes, even living here in Spain we can't escape it! - so I thought I should add my tuppence worth.

I deliberately added the word British, in case there are any foreign readers who haven't heard the news, though I very much doubt it. According to Spanish TV - who were hanging around outside St Mary's hospital before, during and after the happy event - there were press representatives from as far afield as Australia. However, just in case you haven't already heard the news: the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy in St Mary's hospital in London yesterday. Splendid news!


I guess that I shouldn't have been surprised that Spanish TV cameras were there, after witnessing the reaction in Spain to the Royal Wedding.  We had gone out for the day with some British friends, and we planned to have lunch near the coast.  There was an unanimous vote to avoid any British bars, especially when we saw the boards outside them splattered with Royal Wedding deals. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an anti-monarchist, but neither am I a huge fan of the Royal Family. My friend Lesley and I agreed that we would quite like to see the dress (sorry, that should have read "THE Dress"!) but we didn't really want to watch the whole ceremony.

We sat down in a Spanish bar and ordered our meal before realising that the wedding was on Spanish TV too! A quick flick through the papers confirmed that every channel was providing coverage, so there was no escape. I just find it slightly bizarre that foreign media are so obsessed with royalty from a different country.

I thought that the fervour over the royal birth had died down today. The Pope's visit to Brazil was on the front page of ABC, the Spanish newspaper that we bought this morning. However closer inspection inside revealed that several pages were devoted to the "niƱo de Los Duques de Cambridge". Are Spanish people so interested in reading about this baby that they need five pages of information?

They say that good news doesn't sell newspapers, but in this case it obviously does. I admit that I'd far rather read about a new baby than some of the dreadful things happening in the world every day. I wish the parents well, of course, and I would like to congratulate William and Kate plus any other new parents out there. However excuse me if I say that I don't really care what name the third in line to the British throne is given. Why don't they just call him Prince?

5 comments:

  1. I don't typically watch the news or read papers, so I hadn't heard yet about the birth of the Royal Baby. I'm a little surprised now that I didn't see any mention of it on Facebook. I am with you though, I'm happy for William and Kate, but don't quite understand why it is such a big deal internationally. I guess people just view the Royals as if they are a real life Fairy Tale.

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    1. Wow! Did you put things in perspective for me today! While I get bored of all of the "Royal" news, you said it very well when you pointed out that a Royal wedding or birth beats the heck out of a passel of bad news which usually graces our papers and news wires!

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    2. Hi Melissa, I assume that you don't live in the UK? Many of my friends who live there were making comments on Facebook, including my niece who posted a picture of the Royal Baby, which I have to admit surprised me!

      Sheri, like you I get bored by too much "Royal" news, but it does make a pleasant change to read about happy events.

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  2. I'm happy to hear less about the Trayvon Martin case and more about the Royal Baby. It was about time for that. I don't know how anyone living in this world doesn't watch the local and national news and yet pay attention to things on FaceBook! FaceBook does not replace the real world we live in. My husband just reads the paper (in his hands) on Sunday (for the local paper and then the big city news that is an hour away from us) and then he reads the daily local paper online.

    I think the one thing that had me intrigued this time is that Princess Di would have been the grandmother and because she was such a great mom to her two boys... I'm excited to see how they are growing and who they are becoming as they do! I really don't have an opinion on what they name him, I'm sure that as long as it isn't "East, West or South" I'll be quite content!

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    1. It's interesting what you say about Facebook: I see Facebook as a means of keeping in touch with friends and family. I like to chat to my family via Skype, but we all lead such busy lives that it can be tricky to find a mutually convenient time. Emailing and posting on Facebook is the next best thing.

      We usually check the BBC website first thing in the morning for the latest news, so I actually found out about the Royal baby through Facebook comments!

      I'm sure William is missing his mother at this particular moment - he seems very like her at times.

      No doubt I will hear what name they choose via one of my Facebook friends!

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