WHO knew a tiny little baby could cause such a big fuss? Last week, the world’s media were again talking about the royal baby. Not about him being cute and lovely, which he of course is, but about the public being given the cold shoulder for his Christening.
The British people were up in arms about the secrecy surrounding the christening of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby Archie. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced intense criticism for lavish renovations of their home, Frogmore Cottage, at a cost of £2.4million to the taxpayer, after they made their little one’s Christening an entirely private affair and blocked the public from even knowing the identity of his godparents.
They were accused of having their cake and eating it. People said that they seemed to opt into public life when it suited them – as in having their house done up and the taxpayer footing the bill – and opting out of it when they weren’t fussed about having the public bringing down the tone of their swanky celebrations.
The fact of the matter is that the royal family are funded by you and I, taxpayers, like it or not. Their extravagant lifestyle, their palaces, their security detail, their cars, the maintenance to their big houses – we donate to it all, regardless of if we agree with the role of the royal family or not.
And they in turn are expected to give something back to warrant that funding. It’s not really cricket for them to turn their noses up at us when it suits them.
Meghan and Harry refused to divulge the names of little Archie’s godparents. They wouldn’t let the media into proceedings. And they kept the whole affair private and intimate.
That’s fine if you’re having your child Christened at St Theresa’s on the Glen Road and don’t want folk knowing your business. It’s not so fine if you’re a member of the royal family, a public figure with a duty to carry out and a public to satisfy.
I’m not sure exactly what people are expecting. Perhaps a front row seat at Windsor Chapel and then back to great granny’s for tea and cake? But more likely, for those who are followers of the royal family, just to feel that they were a little part of the event. Because it is important to some.
Coming from a Catholic background the royal family didn’t feature much in our house. We didn’t follow their lives the way others would have done. But as I grew up and met Protestant friends, I realise that for some, the royal family are people they very much look up to and admire.
I feel no one should be above anyone else so used to think it odd that the great unwashed were kept behind barriers in the street as the royal family paraded past in their finery, waving that royal wave they do, on their way to and from their palaces.
But I have friends who have sat out all night before the royal wedding to catch a glimpse of the bride and others whose greatest honour in life was to meet Prince Charles. Those are the people, those who loved them the most, that I am annoyed for.
The Duke and Duchess have said that they want to raise their boy as a private citizen. That’s fantastic. But if they do, they can’t ask for the public’s help to do so in grandeur.
Royalists don’t want hourly pictures of baby Archie. They just want to feel like the royal family appreciate and love them publicly, even if behind closed doors they are making those faces that you pull when you smell sour milk.
The public have followed and felt they have been a part of Harry and Meghan’s journey from their courtship, their engagement, their wedding and now little Archie’s arrival. They have taken them to their hearts. Even those who might not have been big fans of the royal family in the past are warming to them now with the new, modern, less stuffy generation coming to the fore. It’s not a good strategy to shut them out now.
For many, the crucial element of the relationship in the deal with the royals is emotional – the transactions are snippets of information, mutual respect and indeed photos from life’s precious moments. And they got, I’d say probably reluctantly, two snaps from the big day last week.
Without public support, they are just like the rest of us: ordinary folks just trying to get by in this crazy world, without palaces, country piles and a fleet of fancy cars.
