Is British monarchy turning into a celebrity family?

It would be easy to believe. In this age of mass media and reality TV, we can pay the British monarchy the compliment that they are above such things. But although the days of crown steeped in mystery are long gone, is the royal family slowly becoming part of the global obsession with celebrity?

Britain’s monarchy is special and differs greatly from its existing European counterparts. Take Prince-Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange who, upon his mother Queen Beatrix’s abdication at the end of this month, will become King of the Netherlands. He has recently stated that he doesn't really care whether or not he is addressed as ‘Your Majesty’ and people can call him what they want. Although this may seem very modern and will be supported by those who believe that monarchy is against all the rules of equality, surely this makes him just another rich and famous person rather than a King.

The British monarchy on the other hand is still rife with pomp and ceremony and holds up traditions that have been part of the system for centuries all the while maintaining a certain amount of mystique. The royals rarely give interviews and if they do, they tend to be with the BBC and, in keeping with the monarch’s constitutional responsibility to remain politically neutral, we are seldom sure of what they are really thinking. But we only have to look at the media’s obsession with the Duchess of Cambridge’s baby bump and how she’s dressing it to believe that in becoming more modern, the younger members of the royal family are in danger of throwing off all the traditions of monarchical mystery and offering themselves to the public on a silver (and likely monogrammed) platter. And thanks to the celebrity culture, they become less like role-models and more like the cast of TOWIE or Made in Chelsea, whose every move is an object of entertainment rather than something to look up to.

Fortunately though, the House of Windsor has a long way to go before it becomes as celebrity as some other monarchies, such as Monaco’s House of Grimaldi. Probably known best for the previous Prince, Prince Ranier III’s marriage to American actress Grace Kelly, the recent history of the royal family of the tiny Mediterranean principality is full to the brim with divorces, extra-marital pregnancies and playboy lifestyles. Not only do these things occur, the family seems to make no effort to hide them, evident in the fact that Prince Albert’s nephew, Andrea Casiraghi, who although planning on marrying his long-term girlfriend Tatiana Santa Domingo this year, did not waste any time in conceiving a child. As 2^nd in line to the throne after his mother Princess Caroline, it doesn’t seem very royal to act without any thought to his future role or in fact that of his new-born son.

It would be scandalous for anything like this to happen within the British royal family and thankfully we have an heir on the way, who although will be treated very much like another famous baby by the press, has been born to a married prince who, for now, seems at least aware of the responsibilities that he has been born to and knows that he is not a celebrity in the real sense. Though we will have to see whose example his brother Harry chooses to follow.