What can Kate and Royal Baby learn from Aishwarya, Aaradhya?

Published Wednesday, July 24, 2013

By Staff

Finally the 'Great Kate Wait' is over as the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a healthy boy.

The world can heave a sigh of relief after huffing and puffing along with the Duchess as she went into labour for more than twelve hours.

Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with their baby son. (REUTERS)

The media frenzy surrounding the royal birth has gone into overdrive as it tops news agendas across the globe.

Now the next big agenda will be baby picture (which is out), baby name and mummy weight.

Well, we witnessed similar lunacy in India when the so-called queen of Bollywood Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gave birth to a baby girl.

Like the Duchess of Cambridge, Aishwarya too was marked by the media and their every move was documented.

(REUTERS)

But unlike the Royal birth announcement (notice over to the easel outside Buckingham Palace and press release) the Bachchan patriarch took to Twitter to announce the birth.

Not just the announcement there are couple of things Duchess Kate (as popularly known) can learn from Aishwarya Rai.

Aishwarya Rai at Cannes 2012. (AP)

Lose weight before being seen in public:

More than a year and Aishwarya Rai is still struggling with the extra baby flab she gained post-delivery.

Ash gave birth to a daughter in November 2011 and since then, she has faced public and media scrutiny about her weight that borders on harassment.

A second pregnancy rumour did the rounds when Ash gained oodles of weight post pregnancy. Yes, that much weight and more.

29 weeks pregnant Duchess Kate. (Getty)

But that's not the case with Kate. The Duchess had a very trim bump. Kate went through nine months of widely-praised maternity fashion choosing well-tailored clever covers.

Kate was lucky to have a relatively small bump to clothe for many months but she looked just as elegant as it became very pronounced from April onwards.

Looks like the Duchess will lose the negligible pound she gained in a jiffy.

Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with their baby son. (REUTERS)

Announce the name:

Now that a baby boy has been born people are anticipating the baby’s name.

Prince William’s name was announced by parents Princess Diana and Prince Charles 7 days after his birth, but Prince Charles’s name was not announced after a month. In contrast, Prince Harry‘s name was revealed as soon as he left the hospital.

There is no set precedent for how much time must pass before the official announcement of a royal baby’s name.

(Sanskriti Media and Entertainment)

The anxiety over Ash's baby name was similar. But then the Bachchan had to play their privacy card and not disclose the name. What's in a name, right?

And in the absence of a name all sorts of monikers were given - Beti B, Betiya, Little one. The family regaled in the media fretfulness.

(Twitter)

High-level security at birth certificate office:

The relentless paparazzi did not leave any stone unturned to get the name when the Bachchans took an almost pseudo-royal stand on not announcing it (some inane pleasure).

After repeated questioning, the family was still uncompromising for months. The media then took the matter in their own hands.

Four months after birth it was sourced out from the birth certificate office - Aaradhya Bachchan.

Generous of them not to lie about the sex of the child.

But in all likelihood the royal baby's name will be soon officially announced. According to a Kensington Palace press release issued on July 23 at 11:55 a.m. local time, there was “no news on names” to report.

Royal Baby (AFP)

Get a picture out to the press ASAP:

William and Kate did not keep the world waiting for a year. The world got to see the first glimpse of the new Prince of Cambridge as the couple left the hospital. They don't need much publicity you see.

They posed happily for the hundreds of cameras waiting for them just like Princess Diana and Prince Charles stood holding baby Prince William outside St Mary's hospital in 1982. The Palace might soon release an office picture of the future King with the Queen.

Aaradhya shows her face to the media. (Sanskriti and Media)

Aishwarya Rai was practically hounded down by paparazzi for one look of Aaradhya. That pseudo-royal nature was not appreciated. The more you hide the more they will chase you down.

Ash took every precaution to hide her little baby from the glares of the paparazzi. This made the lens men more vigilant and adamant and Ash got more publicity.

She shielded her little girl for almost a year until one fine day Aaradhya had enough and wriggled out from her mother's clutches.

Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with their baby son. (REUTERS)

But then unlike Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, William and Kate are royalty and they owe it to the people of the United Kingdom. It's been tradition and they follow the footsteps that date back centuries.

The Duke and Duchess would rather face the camera than going through the drill of protecting their privacy and getting hounded.

This is royalty, not pseudo-royalty.