A Prince Is Born
July 22, 2013
THE ANNOUNCEMENT that the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a boy is posted outside Buckingham Palace. According to the Daily Mail, Prince William will now take two weeks paid paternity leave.
Kate Middleton had a beautiful smile in her last public appearance, and in photos taken throughout her pregnancy. Birth is a marvel. The miracle never grows old.
—- Comments —
Bill R. writes:
Compliments on your brief but elegant post, and congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. May God’s blessings follow them and their newborn son. May this new heir to the British throne be a light and inspiration to her people, and God bless them as well.
JULY 23
Jay from Goshen writes:
It was also heart-warming to see average British people show their love for their country and future king.
Interesting thought: Britain will have kings for the next 75 or so years, after Queen Elizabeth is no longer with us. She was crowned in (I think) 1954 – most of us can’t remember an England with a male regent. If all goes well, and I pray it does, the world will see Charles, William, and his bonny new boy rule, in succession.
I admired Queen Elizabeth up until recently when she gave into the zeitgeist, but there is no denying how beloved she is among her subjects. I have Australian in-laws who adore her. This is a very deep bond, encompassing World War II, and more. But being a woman and a mother, her influence was inevitably feminizing. Nothing wrong with that, just saying.
What do you think the mystical influence of a male regent will be, for the next three generations (25 x 3 = 75), if any?
Laura writes:
I have no hope for Charles. See the many excellent posts at VFR about him. William is still very young and it is not too late for him.
Laura writes:
There are many delightful photos of Kate and William with the baby here.
Joseph Ebbecke writes:
Queen Elizabeth succeeded in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Sovereigns are usually crowned in the calendar year after their succession because the ceremony takes at least a year to plan and pull off.
In April I attended a wonderful lecture by Sir Roy Strong at The McNay Museum, on coronations in the 20th century. Sir Roy was an excellent speaker and is High Steward of Westminster Abbey.
He emphasized the sacramental character of the ceremony. The Queen,in fact, becomes Queen not by the public crowning, but by the coronation oath, taken in a simple white robe and followed by Holy Communion and anointing by the Archbishop.
Sir Roy was a boy in the crowds outside the Abbey in 1953, but he has photographs of the oath and anointing, which, unlike the crowning, were not televised. The young Elizabeth looks serious and strikingly beautiful.
Some documents on the sacramental nature of the 1953 coronation can be found here and here.
