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[h=4]First Take: Royal baby mania-lite[/h]It appears that even the British royal family's golden couple is not immune to second baby syndrome.
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Take a trip to London's William Hill bookmaker to see the many bets available for royal baby watchers! VPC
Artist Kaya Mar poses for photographs with his painting entitled 'Saint Kate' across the street from the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London, on April 27.(Photo: AP)
LONDON — It appears that even the British royal family's golden couple is not immune to second baby syndrome.
A small group of dedicated royal fans have been waiting outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London in recent weeks for any word on the birth of the Duchess of Cambridge's second child. And large numbers from the royal press pack are now here. Anticipation is building.
But compared to 2013, when Prince George was born, the tangible roar of excitement — for those that get excited about these things — has hardly been deafening. Or not theoretically and practically ignorable, anyway.
Two years ago, the world's collective lens was studiously — ridiculously, some felt — fixed on the steps outside the maternity wing of this hospital near Paddington station. Kate and Wills were going to show off their newborn, and the world wanted a glimpse of the cuteness.
Now, a few short years later, the little princess just isn't causing much of a stir.
Not in Britain, at any rate.
Part of that may be because in less than a week one of the most closely contested general elections this country has ever seen is going to take place. So attention here is politically diverted.
Perhaps it's because the growing list of ongoing disasters and conflicts around the world is simply drowning the out the pomp and circumstance of the fifth in line to the throne. Each orbit further away from the throne somehow less interesting.
Perhaps it's just a second baby thing. Fewer gifts, less attention, only the odd offer of help or baked goods. This time, saint Kate is not being celebrated as if she is the only woman to have ever given birth to a child — blue-blooded or otherwise.
"It's totally different," royal watcher John Loughfrey told USA TODAY a few weeks ago. "Before, the press were here, and myself, and various other fans, and it was electrifying. It was July, the sun was shining. It was manic, but super. Now they (the royal family) want things done differently, they want everything to be much more relaxed," he said.
Loughfrey ought to know.
He is the self-proclaimed "Diana super-fan" whose dedication to the royal family is so strong that he attended every minute of the year-and-a-half inquest into the late princesses death that finished in 2008.
When that inquest closed the presiding judge said of Loughfrey, addressing the inquest's jury: "No one except you and I and, I think, the gentleman in the public gallery with Diana and Dodi painted on his forehead has sat through every word of evidence."
The pitter-patter of tiny royal feet is getting harder to hear.
Kim Hjelmgaard is USA TODAY's Deputy World Editor, based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter@khjelmgaard
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