(emily)
Royal & Modern
Breaking traditions seems to be Britain’s future Royal’s MO: not only will Prince William and Kate Middleton’s child be directly in line to the throne after daddy William, but even the baby’s birth announcement was a modern change.
Like most aspects of royal life, there is a protocol for announcing a baby. Typically, Prince William and Kate Middleton would have first informed the Queen. After 12 weeks, an official announcement would be posted on the gates of Buckingham Palace.
A world with 24/7 news coverage and Twitter, though, made keeping quite about the Duchess of Cambridge’s condition a bit of a headache. When Kate ended up in the hospital for severe morning sickness last year, it was decided that it was better just to confirm the tabloids’ suspicions rather than covering it up. An announcement was made, and it seems like the Queen found out with the rest of us commoners.
It seems a shame that Will and Kate had to break the news early, but as with any new parents’ announcement, we’re sure they were still pretty excited. Most parents do, and while not all parents can announce they’re expecting on the gates of a palace, that hasn’t stopped them from getting creative:
Expiration Date
Sonagram
What's in your belly?
Welcome Home
Aren’t these fantastic? We’ve got a whole bunch more over on Pinterest that we love.
High Praise
After the news broke, several high British officials tweeted their congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Now, we can’t guarantee tweets from world leaders for your baby, but we do have a really cool option from the White House.
How awesome is this? If you send a birth announcement to the White House Greetings Office, you can get a congratulatory note from the President and First Lady! So cool! They also do birthday cards and anniversary cards.
There is a wait – it is Washington, after all – and it can take a few months for your cards to arrive, so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time. (At least 6 weeks.) My sister sent her birth announcement in October after my niece was born, and her card came just this past January.
Nom nom nom! (Photo by V. Khoma)
Just send an announcement to the White House and be sure to include
- the baby’s name and date of birth,
- the names of the parents,
- and the address where you would like the greeting to be sent.
Mail it to
White House Greetings Office
Room 39
Washington, DC 20500
or fax it: 202-456-2461.
And you're all set!