Why do we care - Royal Baby

 Well, it's finally happened!  The Royal Baby has arrived.  A sweet little bundle of joy that has England in the throes of glee and Americans, at least the ones I know, divided as to whether or not we even care.  

Do I think that this deserves to be top news story on every single channel that has any news to deliver?  No, I don't.  Much more is going on here that we need to be aware of.   However, it's nice to see something happy on the news for once.  

But why do those of us who care, care?  

For me, it goes back to Diana.  A common woman who married a Prince.  I was young at the time and enchanted by the Cinderella story I was seeing.  I got up early and I watched the wedding.  I bought the souvenier book.  Geekier still, I still have the book in a box, protected!  Will I buy the souvenier book for this as yet un-named Prince?  Probably.  

Anyway, Diana.  Cinderella.  Ugly Prince and not so charming, but still.  As a young woman I watched her buck palace tradition and do things the way that she felt they needed to be done.  She was a role model for taking control of your own life and doing what you believe is right, whether or not others agree.  

I was proud of her for getting divorced.  Like I said, the Prince was not so charming and divorcing him for her own self-preservation was the right decision.  I continued to follow the travels and benevolance of this woman and watched carefully the way her children were growing into men more like her then their father.  Young men who followed her example and were rarely seen in public with their father. 

I think that when someone we admire dies, we are interested in the children that person leaves behind.  Will they hold true to the legacy of the deceased parent?  Will they continue to grow on the path that parent put them on or go off into a life of torment and grief and ultimately self-destruction?  Harry had me worried for a few minutes, but no longer!

Now that the next generation has come along, I think that those of us who are interested are interested because we want to see how William and Kate raise that new baby boy.  Are they going to go the way of Diana and do things the way they see fit?  Or will they bow to royal tradition and hand the child to nannies and be less involved in the rearing of their children?  

I'm hoping that the picture to the right tells me everything that I want to know.  It's no accident that Kate emerged from the hospital wearing a blue polka dot dress the way Diana did all those years ago when William was born.  The royals plan things to the last detail and this was no exception, I'm sure.  My hope is that this means that Kate and William plan to do things their way, as William's mother did.  

Many find this interest in the royals to be ridiculous.  After all, we did fight a war to get rid of this crap right?  But, I personally believe that our interest started with Diana.  We don't much care about the queen and we care very little about Charles and Camilla.  It's the ones who go their own way that we watch closely.  Because they are the ones who show us that no matter how much pressure is brought to bear (a whole country's worth?) you can still do things your way.

Just my two cents worth.