If Kate Middleton Has a Daughter That Princess Could Be Worth $1.5 Billion to Her Country—So, No Pressure

Here's hoping she's got "a bit of a sense of humor," royals expert Catherine Mayer tells E! News, discussing the added pressure of being a royal daughter

By Natalie Finn Apr 22, 2015 12:00 AMTags
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of CambridgeChris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate Middleton and Prince William's second child isn't even here yet, and there are already such great expectations upon the infant's inevitably adorable head.

The commonwealth may otherwise be waiting patiently to see whether a boy or girl emerges from the Duchess of Cambridge's womb, but experts are already calculating just how much more profitable-for-posterity it will be should royal baby No. 2 be a girl.

"I think there will be an immediate boost of around 80 million pounds [or $119.4 million] when the baby is born, with around [$30 million-$37 million] spent on souvenirs and the rest on food and drink such as cake and sparkling wine," Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the U.K.'s Center for Retail Research, told London's Telegraph. "There isn't as much excitement when it's the second baby, but a girl would have the potential to boost the fashion industry.

www.theukgiftcompany.co.uk

"As well as the boost to baby clothing sales that we have seen from Prince George, a Princess would be able to set trends throughout her life, which will be great for the people who designed her clothes or those who can make quick knock-off copies."

We saw how much memorabilia was available to mark the ballyhooed birth of Kate and Will's firstborn son in 2013—and true, that didn't even include all of the women who snatched up their own copies of Kate's maternity dresses, the parents who had to have George's jumpers and overalls for their own little nugget at home, the people who just had to have a champagne toast at home when George was born... etc.

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According to the Telegraph report, George's birth gave the British economy a $369 million boost and the predictions are that a little princess could ultimately put an extra $200 million-plus in local coffers upon arrival. Multiple that by public appearances and how her style (both her own and the one her mum chooses for her in her early years) could ultimately be worth 1 billion pounds, or nearly $150 billion, to the economy.

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As if people weren't going to be paying enough attention in the meantime...

If Kate gives birth to a daughter, "she will be growing up in the public eye as a princess, and I can think of no greater pressure," royals expert Catherine Mayer, author of Charles: The Heart of a King, tells E! News.

"It is bad enough being a female in public life, but being a princess in public life is...you know, that child will be scrutinized. She will be told she's pretty--and then she'll be told maybe she's not so pretty...whether she's eating enough or eating too little. And then, of course, they'll be suggesting handsome husbands for her for all of her life."

Sounds like your basic female-celebrity existence. Alas, she probably won't have the chance to defiantly laugh off the haters in a Jimmy Kimmel Live "Mean Tweets" segement or other such public-yet-non-royal arena.

"I rather hope that if it is a princess it's a very, very strong individual," Mayer says, "and hopefully with a bit of a sense of humor. It would be quite nice if there was a punk princess."

Ka-ching!

—Reporting by Melanie Bromley