In London, the royal birth is a tale of two cities – a moment of history unfolding amid the frenzy of daily urban life.
Outside the London hospital where Prince William’s wife, Kate, was in labor Monday, Londoners slowed their daily rush on a scorching summer day to take a quick picture and wonder at the vast media throng, then moved on.
Two miles away at Buckingham Palace, the news seemed more momentous, an extra jolt of history to the royal pomp and pageantry that attracts tourists in their thousands each day. They may no longer wield political power, but Britain’s royals are unsurpassed as celebrities and cultural icons.
“They’re sort of the celebrities of the world,” said Anne Frey, a beautician from Madison, Wisconsin, watching the daily Changing of the Guard ceremony with her husband.
Excitement for the imminent royal baby was strong among the crowds lining the black iron gates to watch soldiers in high bearskin hats, sweating stoically under their scarlet tunics, march behind a brass band into the palace grounds.