We"ve Had the Labour, the Gender and the Name - What Now for Wills, Kate and George?
First there was the media madness of 'when is she going to give birth?' along with shifts in the betting odds.
Then there was the silly season 'is it a boy or a girl?' followed by 'what are they going to call it?' (I had a couple of quid on Kwame Abdul Mohammed at 2000/1 but they went with family names instead).
So now that Kate, Wills and George are a family, what's to become of them and the latest royal dad? The thing that hit me the most was referring to Princess Diana as 'grandma'.
As she was taken in her prime, it's difficult to imagine such an icon ageing.
As for Wills, he's got the weight of expectation mixed with the backing of a highly established and yet chronically dysfunctional family behind him.
The name did get to me a bit.
How much say did Kate have in that? He's Prince George Alexander Louis, his dad is William Arthur Philip Louis, his grandfather is Charles Philip Arthur George, his great grandfather is Philip; the Queen's middle name is Alexandra.
That's not a name, it's an anagram.
They just shuffled all the previous names and pulled them out of a hat.
Kate's dad is Michael Francis - no sign of that anywhere.
I remember when John Ross was born on Dallas.
Jock, the patriarch, stood up tall and announced the arrival of "John Ross Ewing the third.
" I really wanted Sue Ellen to pipe up and say, "Actually, I wanted to call him Eric.
" How were things when you had your first? I was a mix of fear, pride, love, amazement, shock, adrenalin, hope and overwhelm.
I'm sure William is too and he'll be glad to get back to the normality of saving people's lives in the air-sea rescue service.
George's name can be seen as a metaphor and the difference between him and us.
How in charge of his own destiny is this lad? How much freedom will he ever have? He's the future monarch of the United Kingdom; could he go off and become a Buddhist monk or spend his life on a ranch in Texas? I doubt it, but you could.
He may be born into a world of privilege but you and I are far more in control of our lives and we have far more opportunities ahead of us, it's just a case of realising what they are and taking action to make them happen.
Good luck to William and Kate; by George they're going to need it.
Then there was the silly season 'is it a boy or a girl?' followed by 'what are they going to call it?' (I had a couple of quid on Kwame Abdul Mohammed at 2000/1 but they went with family names instead).
So now that Kate, Wills and George are a family, what's to become of them and the latest royal dad? The thing that hit me the most was referring to Princess Diana as 'grandma'.
As she was taken in her prime, it's difficult to imagine such an icon ageing.
As for Wills, he's got the weight of expectation mixed with the backing of a highly established and yet chronically dysfunctional family behind him.
The name did get to me a bit.
How much say did Kate have in that? He's Prince George Alexander Louis, his dad is William Arthur Philip Louis, his grandfather is Charles Philip Arthur George, his great grandfather is Philip; the Queen's middle name is Alexandra.
That's not a name, it's an anagram.
They just shuffled all the previous names and pulled them out of a hat.
Kate's dad is Michael Francis - no sign of that anywhere.
I remember when John Ross was born on Dallas.
Jock, the patriarch, stood up tall and announced the arrival of "John Ross Ewing the third.
" I really wanted Sue Ellen to pipe up and say, "Actually, I wanted to call him Eric.
" How were things when you had your first? I was a mix of fear, pride, love, amazement, shock, adrenalin, hope and overwhelm.
I'm sure William is too and he'll be glad to get back to the normality of saving people's lives in the air-sea rescue service.
George's name can be seen as a metaphor and the difference between him and us.
How in charge of his own destiny is this lad? How much freedom will he ever have? He's the future monarch of the United Kingdom; could he go off and become a Buddhist monk or spend his life on a ranch in Texas? I doubt it, but you could.
He may be born into a world of privilege but you and I are far more in control of our lives and we have far more opportunities ahead of us, it's just a case of realising what they are and taking action to make them happen.
Good luck to William and Kate; by George they're going to need it.
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