I’m going to make an argument that might make you laugh: to be born a prince or princess in
the British royal family would be a rotten fate.
Oh yes, I know about the castles, the $645 million family wealth, and just under $3 billion trusts that only some members have access to, not to mention the indescribably huge collection of jewelry, including dubious Romanov jewelry, rubies the size of quail eggs. and that their Gan Gan owns the world’s largest private collection.
Living life from the first breath as His Royal Highness means an almost unimaginable privilege,
too much venison and are always the first to board a RyanAir flight.
But it will still be a hell of a life.
Exhibition) video released by William and KateThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram and Twitter accounts on Sunday night in front of the England Lioness football team
playing in the final of Euro 2022. There the duke sat in some bucolic garden somewhere in
An England that Beatrix Potter would give her best hat for a sketch. On his
seven-year-old Princess Charlotte sat on her lap with a forced, slightly forced smile.
You can see her eyes flicker to the side, perhaps to her mother, the Duchess, who we know is handy with the camera. William wishes the team good luck before Charlotte delivers her line at the end, saying “Good luck, I hope you win bye” and cheering
wave.
It’s short, cute, and should be nothing short of a source of a few million more likes.
Also, while watching the video, something came to my mind. Here we have the future king speaking his lines with sincere warmth and enthusiasm, and a small child looking into the distance.
a barrel of a whole new kind of royal childhood in which she and brothers Prince George and Prince Louis will not only be required to make occasional public appearances, but will also be required to help produce the social content needed to keep the monarchy afloat.
Undoubtedly, all royal kids, including the angelic queen of the 1920s, were created to enchant and delight the masses, tiny curiosities, waving them playfully so that the press could slap them on the front pages with glee and nonchalance.
However, what sets the youngest Cambridges apart is that they now also have to help their parents maintain a stream of photos and videos for social media.
Not only are George, Charlotte and Louis expected to take part in key ceremonial family celebrations, but their childhoods will also be invaded in royal annals in an unprecedented way in the name of likes, retweets and views. .
You can already clearly see the emergence of this pattern if you compare William and Charlotte in
Seven.
The same year the Prince turned this age, he took part in the carriage procession for Trooping the Colour, and then waving on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, appeared at the Beating Retreat military parade and was photographed at two weddings (his uncle, now
Earl Spencer and Duke Hussey’s daughter) and with his brother Prince Harry on the youngest boy’s first day of school.
Compare that to 12 months for Charlotte. Last August, she appeared in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram post about conservation work called “The Big Butterfly Count”. there was an image of a family Christmas card taken on a private holiday in Jordan that was widely circulated; she attended a memorial service for her Great
Grandpa Prince Philip in March and a royal Easter service in April before the usual birthday snapshots of her were released in May.
In June, Charlotte and her siblings took part in their first Trooping the Colour, waving on the balcony, held their first official meeting with their parents and George in Cardiff where she participated in the official walk before taking center stage with her family. during the Platinum Anniversary Pageant and filmed a cake baking video with Kate, George and Louie.
Also in June, the Cambridge troika appeared in a cute family photo taken in Jordan and released to commemorate Father’s Day in the UK.
Of course, the young Cambridges may never know what the hell the paparazzi are after, but
often in the coming months and years we will likely only see more
their little faces appear on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook feeds. (BUT
a gambling woman would bet money that William and Kate would soon raid TikTok
too much.)
For the Duke and Duchess, being on most major platforms means they’ve agreed to a post-industrialist Faustian deal. They can present their royal brand – approachable, warm and kin – directly to the British through the most powerful marketing platforms ever created. Price? They must vigorously and regularly create the personal and intimate photos and videos that are expected in this environment, meaning they will have to cater to their children from time to time.
About 160 years ago, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had the cunning idea to change the image of the monarchy by selling their own family (and all nine children). They did this by posting photos of what, until now, were completely private moments, such as christenings and family vacations. (In the 1860s, tens of thousands of copies of souvenir photographs, called carte-de-visites, of the family were sold in Britain.)
This strategy is very similar to the one William and Kate are currently following, and their Happy Normal Family routine is one of the building blocks of Cambridge Inc.
Think back to April last year when the duo released a completely unexpected video of the family frolicking on the beach, playing in a pristine garden and toasting marshmallows to mark the duke and duchess’ tenth wedding anniversary.
It all looked and felt like an advertisement for a luxury station wagon with atmospheric guitar music.
This was not an accident, because, in essence, the work of William and Kate is reduced to the same thing that German car brands do: sales. In their case, they are selling the UK over and over again to a hereditary monarchy to ensure its survival in the 21st and 22nd centuries.
And although every generation of royal parents has made their children available to the world with the help of any modern technology, there has still been some kind of line between their personal and public selves.
What separates George, Charlotte and Louis is that this distinction, this line has blurred over the last couple of years. We have seen content filmed during family reunions, at their private property and after school in the gardens of Kensington Palace shared on social media by their parents.
Clearly, William and Kate are deeply protective of their children, but they also have a responsibility to the monarchy, which means using any new marketing weapon they can add to their arsenal.
Social media is a beast to be fed, and in recent years William and Kate have seriously stepped up their game on that front by hiring David Wakins, who previously managed Sussex Royal’s social media accounts, and launching a YouTube channel. with charming hissing coil.
Now through various Cambridge accounts we get social media generated content to promote their good work or news, like when Kate was named patroness
Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union in February, Kensington Palace releases cute 30 second video starring the duchess among others.
These days, at most a few hours after they attend any event or activity, a video and/or a few images made by the Cambridge team are released, hilariously informing the world of what they’ve been up to and more and more offering behind. -access to scenes.
Take, for example, their recent, somewhat disastrous Caribbean tour, where they paid in-house photographer Matt Porteous to record their journey, and the couple’s digital team released videos and photo montages daily.
A video of them scuba diving, filmed by Porteous to oversee marine conservation work, was
firstly, the official engagement held at the time when the official press package was
nowhere to be seen and shared with the world exclusively through social media.
Clearly, William and Kate are devoting time, energy and budgetary resources to expanding their social media presence as they get closer to the throne, but it’s a journey that includes their children, whether they like it or not. no. (I bet it’s the last one.)
Being seven and on school holidays and yet expecting a break from
your childhood to record a video in the service of an ancient, mind-numbing institution? I’m not sure there are enough emeralds in the world to make up for this.
Daniela Elzer is a royal expert and writer with over 15 years of experience working with a range of leading Australian media outlets.