Royal Baby--Great Expectations

At this moment I'm doing what the rest of the civilized world is doing--holding my breath and waiting for the arrival of the royal baby. At this point the Duchess of Cambridge has been in labor for about ten hours. Of course we don't know whether she went into hospital at the start of real labor with contractions every few minutes, or if she went in at the first twinge. In which case it could be days.

I'm a little perplexed that all the media still calls her Kate Middleton. I think that is disrespectful and just wrong. Her married name is Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. You wouldn't call other women by their single name after they married, would you?

And everybody has been speculating on the name, sex, weight etc etc. I ran a poll on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rhysbowenauthor) and I'm going to give an ARC of my upcoming Royal Spyness book, HEIRS AND GRACES to anyone who gets the name completely right. My own prediction is Victoria Mary Diana Elizabeth, OR George Arthur Phillip.

I am inclined to think it will be a girl. And I don't go along with Alexandra, which is the name that most Brits are betting on. Nor do I think it will be Madison, Reagan, Riley or Kylie. or Carol, Kate's mum's name.

So any predictions on when it will arrive? How much it will weigh?

Defending Kate

I don't know about you but I'm furious that someone photographed the Duchess of Cambridge naked, and that a magazine published the pictures. Kate is someone who has worked hard to do everything right and with royal dignity.  She has every right to sunbathe topless at a very private and remote villa in the South of France.

Obviously this brings back shades of Princess Diana, hounded to her death by paparazzi  Clearly royals are public figures and as such cannot expect the same degree of privacy as the rest of us. Every time they go out they are fair game and their behavior is on display to be judged. But in the privacy of their own home? No way. What will be next..super long distance lenses catching them in the bathroom or bedroom?

This comes after the Prince Harry scandal, again pictures of him at a private party, in a private suite, leaked by someone at the party, obviously for mucho bucks. He wasn't very wise, I agree, but he is a young single man and at the time he wasn't on official royal business. In fact we now know he was getting ready to fly back to duty in Afghanistan with his regiment, where he will be facing danger daily flying Apache helicopters. So he had a good reason to let his hair down.

This sort of thing didn't happen to royals at the time I write about in my Royal Spyness series. Although the press knew about the affair between the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson they were asked by the palace not to mention it. So it didn't become public knowledge until he announced his intention to marry her. They remained silent for several years while Edward pursued her more and more openly (or rather she pursued him). Can you imagine any newspaper doing that these days?

Why do we feel we have a right to own celebrities? I know that A list people like Tom Hanks can never eat out, walk through a park, go to a movie without being mobbed. Fame comes at a hard price.
Writers like me experience this in a small way when we go to signings and conventions. It's not easy to be standing in line for the rest room and have the person next to me say loudly, "I just love your books. When is the next one coming out?" when all I'm thinking about is the need to pee.


So I feel for poor Kate. In fact I think it's about time the royals employed bodyguards who were instructed to shoot to kill invaders of privacy. What do you think?

Diamond Jubliee

I've lived in California for more years than I care to admit to and most of the time I think of myself as American. But this weekend I've been one hundred percent British. I have watched all the Diamond Jubilee festivities religiously on the telly. I have even stood and sung Land of Hope and Glory along with the crowd.  And secretly I've been glad that I didn't have to personally stand out in that rain. I love my native country dearly but not the weather. It was why I left in the first place.

The Brits were so good about standing outside in that awful weather,weren't they? The queen in her light outfit on the Thames. Those singers standing on their barge while rain cascaded down their faces. All those people on the Mall waving their flags, little children sitting on shoulders cheering. My hats off to them all.

I thought the queen was marvelous. She's 86 and she didn't flag, didn't need to sit down all that while on the Thames and went through a whole concert looking interested while obviously she was worrying about her husband in hospital.

The only disturbing factor to me was that she took Charles and Camilla, Wills Harry and Kate everywhere with her, but no sign of her other children or grandchildren. I glimpsed Anne once, sitting in the audience, but what happened to Andrew and Edward and their offspring? Why didn't they get a chance to wave from the balcony? If I'd been them, I'd have been miffed that Camilla, of all people, got to be in the spotlight, up close and cozy whispering to the queen, while they were shut out. Has there been anything about this in the British papers?

One thing was clear--the Brits really know how to put on a good show. I'm going to be there for the Olympics and I'm looking forward to more of the same, and to an umbrella with the Union Jack on it!
By the way, did I ever mention that I had tea with the queen when I was a girl?
I'll tell you more about it in my next post.

Copy Kates--lastest royal updates

I'm back to my royal gossip Mondays, because people have been asking where they've gone.

And this is a good Monday for royal updates because it was a double whammy weekend for the royals. First the trooping of the color for the queen's official birthday. She used to look splendid riding side saddle in her colonel's uniform, but now she plays it safe and rides in an open coach (although knowing her horsewoman's skills, she could still ride bloody well if she wanted to).

Then yesterday it was the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th birthday. Yes, ninety. Doesn't he look good for his age? The royal family attended a church service of thanksgiving at Windsor before family festivities.

And on both occasions all eyes were on the newest royal, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. (you know she's not really a princess, don't you? Just a duchess at this stage, although she's married to a prince). And she looked stunning on both occasions--elegant, understated and oh so fashionable. She either has a knack for knowing the right thing to wear or some terrific advisors. She still looks so happy and relaxed as if she was born to the role. And she is doing wonders for the British retail fashion industry. If she wears something, similar items sell out of high street shops within hours. A new phrase has sprung up in the fashion world--Copy Kates.

The other thing I like is that she quite openly recycles clothes and hats, knowing that we're in a tough economy and extravagance would be frowned upon. Frankly it doesn't matter how many times she wears something--she still looks gorgeous, and in a way it seems magical to me. When she was first photographed with Will she looked like a nice, pleasant ordinary girl. Now she comes across as a stunning beauty--of course she's had help with hair and make-up and diet along the way, but I think it's the radiance that does the trick. She's clearly happy. Isn't it terrific to have something upbeat to blog about?