When Meghan Markle gives birth to her and Prince Harry‘s baby, we hope she stands before the world on the steps of the hospital looking like a woman who just gave birth.
Many are familiar with the tradition of royal women publicly presenting their babies to the world just hours after birth.
On the steps of the Lindo Wing, Kate Middleton and Princess Diana both emerged looking perfectly rested, as though they had sneezed and the baby had just popped out.
While it is reported that Meghan Markle will be saying goodbye to the tradition of giving birth in the luxurious Lindo Wing, we hope she breaks this tradition, too.
Which royal rules has Meghan Markle Broken? Post continues after video.
Stepping out of the hospital with a fresh blowdry and a pair of heels places yet another unrealistic expectation on women about how they are supposed to look after giving birth.
While it might seem obvious that Diana and Kate had the best makeup artists and hair stylists in the world at their bedside, waiting to transform them, it is easy to forget such details when looking at the perfect photographs.
This is not to criticise the royal women who stood before the public, holding their baby just hours after birth. These women have access to resources that make them look like that, and they are upholding a royal tradition.
The problems lies in the fact that the traditions exists in the first place, and that such perfection is expected from a woman who just gave birth.
Birth is messy, and painful, and beautiful.
There is blood, sweat and tears.
The reality of birth isn't picture perfect, and women shouldn't be pressured to portray it any other way.
Top Comments
The reason they do the photo on the hospital steps is to get it out of the way and satisfy the press. If they didn't do it, the papps would relentlessly follow them until they got a photo of the baby. So dressing up for 10 minutes to avoid being chased by photographers is probably seen as the lesser of two evils. Is it shit? Yes it is. But it's also a situation completely and utterly removed from what regular women deal with, so I don't see how anyone could look at the duchesses and go "OMG, I must be camera ready for my first steps out of hospital".
Yeah, you'd be pretty stupid to think that what applies to Royalty (who have personal trainers, make up, hair and lighting at the ready) would apply to you as a normal, anonymous person. What's more, it's also privy to point out that Diana didn't appear on the steps of the Lindo Wing hours after giving birth (unlike Kate). Both looked great - and to pose for pics is entirely their prerogative.
I daresay Meghan will be going for a curated social media "intimate" shot +/- a deal with Hello! magazine - so would not be surprised to see her skip the public press call.
I agree it will probably involve a professional photo shoot, but we can rule out Hello! given the kerfuffle that arose when Princess Anne's son and daughter-in-law sold the rights to their wedding back in the day. The Queen, they say, was not amused. I think they ended up giving the cash to charity, but the damage was already done.
I suspect it will depend on the merching possibilities. May be better for the brand to sell the first pics to a magazine, or debut them on Instagram.