Editorial: Third time clucky — royal baby fever rages

Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge smile as they hold their newborn baby son as they leave the Lindo wing at St Mary's Hospital in London. Photo / AP

What is it about a baby that gets so many of us oohing and aahing, crooning and cooing, talking nonsense and pulling funny faces?

Babies, after all, are commonplace. We all were one, many of us have had one or more, many of us plan to have at least one, and some of us would desperately like to — but are cruelly unable to.

They cry, they fret, they dribble, puke and soil themselves, and seldom sleep when their parents want them to, yet the sight of a newborn is — far more often than not — cause for great delight, excitement, and an overwhelming intensity of emotion — even if the child is not your own.

Perhaps it is because babies represent pure innocence and vulnerability, unfettered possibility, regeneration, continuation, the best of us, our love, commitment, our hopes and dreams, the chance to relive or recast our own childhoods, they bring out our desire to nurture and protect, be loved and nurtured and protected in return. They really are little bundles of joy, with the power to erase heartache and hardship with one (albeit often wind-provoked) shaky smile.

It is hardly a surprise, then, that with a royal baby the scenario is magnified exponentially. Everyone wants in on the feel-good factor.

This seems particularly the case now the stuffy and irrelevant image of the British royal family is being given a makeover courtesy of "commoner" Kate, now the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry's fiancee, American actress Meghan Markle. The two have added glamour, interest and a compassionate touch, like Diana before them, whose legacy as the much-loved "People's Princess" means her sons and their families have a strong hold on the hearts of many.

People genuinely care about the fate of those family members, and are fascinated by the spectacle. The baby fever seems every bit as strong even though the newest royal arrival — born early on Tuesday (NZ time) to Prince William and Kate — is the couple's third child and fifth in line to the throne.

The as-yet unnamed baby boy can expect — like his siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte — to have the eyes of the world upon him for life.

New Zealand can expect our own taste of baby fever in a couple of months when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gives birth to her first child.

The interest and media spotlight here and abroad will be intense, as it has been on our young, female PM from the moment she was unexpectedly thrust into the top job and equally unexpectedly became pregnant, which will make her only the second female world leader to give birth while in office. (The other was Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto, in 1990.)

Ardern faces significant pressure as PM, and there will be criticism of her if she sets a foot wrong in that role while also "holding the baby". Hers will be an unenviable task carried out in the full glare of the public spotlight. However, there is also likely to be support and understanding as she navigates the role of first-time mum and PM and enjoys a honeymoon period as our own form of "royalty".