Artist Kaya Mar poses with his “satirical” Madonna and Child painting outside of St. Mary’s Hospital.
The frenetic media coverage surrounding the birth of Prince Harry and Kate Middletonâ„¢s first child has provoked a backlash from British republicans who say everyone should be born equal.
The storm of media coverage that began almost eight months ago with the announcement of Kate Middletonâ„¢s pregnancy kicked into high gear early Monday morning.
The 31-year-old Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to a London hospital in the early stages of labor with Queen Elizabeth II’s third great-grandchild.
Middleton is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and their firstborn is third in line to the British throne.
News of Middletonâ„¢s labor has ignited a barrage of TV reports, live blogs, analysis and anticipation. But the wall-to-wall media coverage has also provoked a predictable royal baby backlash, particularly from advocates of British republicanism, a movement seeking to remove the monarchy and replace it with a republic.
One republican group launched BornEqual.org, a website and Twitter campaign challenging the royal baby media hype and encouraging the news industry — and the public as a whole — to reconsider the appropriateness of royal birthright.
On its website, the group said it doesnâ„¢t expect the media to ignore the royal birth, but it said coverage of the birth should be proportionate and balanced.
Specifically, it singles out the BBC, calling its nonstop coverage of the event Å“cringe-worthy, tasteless and sycophantic.”
The Born Equal website includes a page encouraging people to submit examples of tasteless BBC baby hype and file complaints directly with the network. The lead story on the BBC website Monday was Å“Kate Middleton in labour as world waits.”
Meanwhile, at least one British news outlet is appealing to the sensibilities of Britons who haven’t joined the throngs of eager royalphiles gathered outside of Buckingham Palace.
Monarchy opponents in Britain are also unhappy with what they call too much media hype over the birth of a baby boy to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
They believe the media coverage of the royal birth to be superficial and disproportionate.
Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists have launched online campaigns to criticize the hereditary monarchy in Britain.
They say the royal birth raises serious questions about the UKâ„¢s political system. In recent years, there’s been mounting criticism over the British taxpayers’ money being used to fund extravagant royal celebrations.
The baby boy’s birth shouldn’t be receiving so much attention, according to activists working to convert the United Kingdom from a hereditary monarchy into a democratic republic.
“We want to encourage the media and the public to think about the very serious questions a royal birth raises about Britain and our political system,” said a statement posted online by the pro-democracy group Republic. “And we want to speak for the millions of people in Britain whose voices are being drowned out by the disproportionate, superficial and intrusive coverage of the royal birth.”
The group has a two-pronged critique: that being born into public office is undemocratic, and that it’s also unfair to the newborn. “Doesn’t this royal child have the same rights as the rest of us? The right to choose their own lifestyle, career, religion and beliefs?” asks the group.
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Republished with permission from: Press TV