By now your news programs will no doubt be swamped by the birth of a girl to the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton). Rather a happy coincidence that the policeman on guard outside the door is a Sikh wearing a uniform turban, the town crier by the way was an unofficial touch - we have our fair share of unique characters.
Kate has now completed her basic Royal duty as wife someone in the immediate line of succession - the production of an "heir and a spare". The last to do so, Diana, came to a rather unhappy ending but it looks like William is a devoted husband. I thought I might go a bit behind the immediate news to looks at some other effects the birth of a girl will have.
The first thing to note is that the new princess is fourth in line after Charles, William and her brother George. Before an Act passed in the last Parliament, if Catherine later has a boy, he would have been fourth and the new princess would have become fifth. Now she will remain after George in the line of succession.
The news is of course almost totally engulfed by the birth. It comes at the last weekend of the General Election campaign and might well have an effect on the outcome. For a start, the news coverage will provide some relief from a long campaign. This is the first British General Election when the day was known years in advance, because of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. You will be hearing a lot about that in posts about the election results. Knowing the date, the parties have been on campaign footing really since their annual conferences last September. The break may renew interest in the election and increase turnout. That could favor Labour.
The birth itself of course will be generally welcomed, especially among those who feel loyalty to the Royal family. They tend to be more inclined to vote Conservative. A more general "feel good" factor may be generated which, together with larger monthly payslips received at the end of April may well give a late boost to the Conservatives, although their poll ratings have been fairly fixed over the last week. (The increase in take home pay is due to reductions in income tax which took effect on April 5)
Longer term there will be economic effects from the birth. The publicity is always useful for the tourism industry. I alluded to another in the title. Since Diana, one of the de facto duties of the wife of an heir has been to be an unofficial clothes horse for British fashion. British fashion and fashion designs have become an important export industry. Getting copies of the latest royal design to the high street means production has to be local. There is not enough time to send the designs to China and get them back in time to still be "hot". Diana was a perfect "clothes horse" but after her death it was not really until Kate that we had a young (relatively, she was older than Diana when she married) and attractive wife of an immediate heir. So before this birth it was quite likely that there would be another hiatus as Kate gets into her 40s and before George starts to get paired off. Now we have a baby princess to fill the slot as she reaches her late teens. Not only that, a whole new group of designers will have their work showcased as the young princess gets older. That may be limited as William and Kate keep a close family and George is almost never seen in public. They do release photos and this may well become more frequent as the family knits.
4:45 AM PT: I forgot to mention another minor boost the birth will provide for the British economy. It took place in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London. The wing is "private" and paid for. It has luxurious rooms and a full birthing suite with all modern facilities like a birthing pool. It is however a part of the hospital which is a public, NHS hospital. If there had been any complications, the full facilities of the hospital and its staff would have been available.
The wing provides income for the main hospital and of course is available for private patients from all over the world. The publicity it gets from the pictures of its door might well increase its popularity.
8:24 AM PT: Names suggested include Charlotte, Hermione, Alexandra, Victoria. The Middletons may be "from trade" but I doubt if the Windsor side would agree to a Princes CHAV.