ROYAL Baby X had a Twitter following long before making his arrival. He had a hashtag and a video gone viral before he even had a name.
The royal baby was born on the same day as hundreds of thousands of other children. Most were likely greeted with similar wonder by their parents. Few captured the attention of the world.
An accident of birth guarantees the royal baby an existence of wealth and privilege. He will never want for anything, but will have few private moments. His parents may be determined to offer him as normal a life as they can - 'normal' being a very relative term in such circumstances. In today's wired world, where everyone has a cellphone and a YouTube account, that is likely to be difficult.
Predictably, the birth heralded the
usual debates between monarchists and republicans about whether the royal family's cache as a brand is worth the payout in taxes.
No question, Royal Baby X's position is an anachronism in terms of most logical thought about equality.
Yet as the crowds outside the London hospital showed, the birth of the tiny prince also seemed to tap into bigger yearnings.
Perhaps it was the hope that future generations will do better than we did with the world, or at the very least, mess it up less royally. It's a lot for someone barely a day old to take on.
The royal baby's arrival this week took place in a media circus within a gilded cage. That shouldn't detract from the immediate joy of the event.
Royal Baby X, welcome to the world.
