So as most of us probably know, Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton is pregnant with the second royal baby. I have so many friends who are in love with Prince William and Catherine (and I mean in love– like, printing out photos of the couple and displaying them on their walls like a celebrity crush hanging up in a high school locker), despite being red, white, and blue-wearing, freedom-loving Americans. To us in the United States, the British royal family is more of a popular culture icon than royalty, but that won’t stop the tabloids from running articles about Kate ranging from her pregnancy to the more ridiculous Duchess diet tricks and tips. I personally think that Kate Middleton is the perfect “Disney princess”; she’s gorgeous of course, down-to-earth yet still confident, and classy in a way that blends modern style with royal flair. Her pregnancy has thrown her back into the spotlight, and the gossip surrounding the gender of baby #2 (boy, like baby Prince George, or girl?) has become a hot topic. One of my friends is praying that it’s a girl, because “oh my gosh, how cute would it be if she named it Diana?!,” after the late Princess Diana of Wales.
Aren’t they the cutest?
What’s interesting to me is how popular Will and Kate are in the United States; they’re a modern celebrity couple with a twist, since their royal status keeps them in a league above regular celebrities like Miley Cyrus or Rihanna (maybe even above Queen Beyoncé, although she seems our own American music royalty). Kate’s image, from her perfect hair to classy outfits and beautiful smile, is completely marketable. Of course she’s a great Duchess, I’m sure, but here in the United States, Kate Middleton sells. I can guarantee you that the Duke and Duchess [plus little George] on any magazine cover will sell- at least a few copies to some of my friends- and collectible items with her face or name on it will also be more popular and more marketable. Despite the United States breaking away from the English monarchy with the whole Boston Tea Party thing and the American Revolution, we still have some sort of fascination with the British royal family.
Using Kidd’s Cultural Diamond, it’s interesting to study Kate Middleton and her family as a sort of text that can be analyzed. Who’s “creating” her though? I think everyone from the British monarchy to the country as a whole are responsible as the creators of this text, even down to her stylists, makeup artists, and wardrobe team. However, I also think we have to take Disney into account, because its really created and popularized the princess stereotype here in the United States. We- the general public (of all classes, I’d say), especially in the United States- are the receivers, because we’re the ones buying into the royal family enough to keep them popular in the media. What’s interesting to me is the historical context of the family and our society today, because despite them being royal and us not having a monarchy here in the U.S., we still see Kate Middleton as a celebrity. Our society today is so focused on “what’s hot” and what sells, that anything a celebrity or famous person wears, says, does, etc. is recorded and reposted on social media and news sites around the world. I think that, to an extent, us Americans form ideas of our own selves, such as what social class is, in comparison to that of famous people like Duchess Catherine “Kate” of Cambridge. We may not be as privileged as her, but almost every girl wants to be her and dreams of the day we go off to college to meet and fall in love with our own Prince William. Kate is a media symbol and pop culture icon, and her beautiful and growing family is exactly the real-life fairytale that Disney has sold us since childhood.
That dress! Gorgeous.
Communication and Pop Culture 