Of course you're right about my omission of the essential component "the public" from the Diana Effect. I am again recalling that woman who was calling out to poor, bereaved, William that day outside KP when he and his brother were forced to undergo that hideous walkabout when they got back from Scotland. The public seemed to want those poor boys to comfort them. I'll never understand the mass hysteria we saw after Diana's death.
Diana was only a factor, but without her I don't think the phenomenon of Royalty as Celebrity, with its associated public demands, would have reached the heights, or depths, we now see.
I still don't understand it, mind you, because I just don't think they're that interesting.
No, none of them are that interesting, they are all rather ordinary. All Wizards of Oz.
As for William and Harry who were forced to be on parade by
the public, including Mr. Blair it seems, yes, I agree. They are not seen as human beings. Someone out there likened modern royals to "circus animals," they exist for us to admire and to be entertained.
No, I'm NOT suggesting that they should be treated by circus animals, or circus performers if you find that analogy less offensive. But I prefer to state "circus animals" because the shock is necessary to force people to acknowledge what we have done to royalty in the modern age. We as the public at large think we own them, they are glorified pets who have no rights. Instead of the reverence afforded to them in years past (also misplaced) now we treat them as performers who come out, entertain us, and then go back to their cage. And the most appealing of the circus animals are the very young and the very old, and the ones who do the most tricks (Harry in Vegas, Fergie in general , Bea and Eugenie with their wardrobes).
What does this have to do with this baby and media?
Not only do we think, as a group in general, that this fetus is a newly anticipated addition to the circus act, and that we have a right to gawk at the right to gawk and laugh and cheer for it and boo and it moves across to the center ring, but on top of it, there are those who want to give it top billing at this circus as soon as it arrives, because of course it will sell more tickets.
Is the baby a human or a commodity? Are we all not a hybrid, and just projection such frustrations onto those we see as the highest echelons, the most privileged?
What kind of life will this baby have as such? As I recall the Dionnes quints were treated much the same as children, and I believe those still alive are recluses.
So while I don't think this baby's parents are all that, I do feel enormous sympathy for this baby, and some concern. Yes, I feel less sorry for it because unlike many children, it will never miss a meal and will receive medical care. But its childhood is a troubling prospect nevertheless.
that is a worrying observation, because you are correct. They need that country estate where Catherine can be with her child, go for walks, etc., and lead some kind of normal life. Taking the baby for a walk around Kensington Gardens might happen once or twice but then it will be staked out. BP Gardens are out as well because of garden parties and opening to the public, never mind the fact that it is overlooked by the Hilton Hotel.
