When we think of Princess Charlotte‘s birth announcement, we think of Kate Middleton and Prince William standing outside the hospital with their sleepy newborn wrapped in a delicately knit white blanket and a light yellow hat to keep her little head warm. The scene was so wholesome and there was undoubtedly an air of excitement surrounding the newly-minted parents of two.
Now, a former aide to the royal family is revealing that that day could have been utter mayhem. Jason Knauf sat down with 60 Minutes Australia and talked about what happened on May 2, 2015.
“You have hundreds and hundreds of journalists and photographers from all over the world that arrive in London, camping outside trying to get their spot,” Knauf said, per People. “Meanwhile behind the scenes, you have a very pregnant member of the royal family and her husband who are trying to get their lives organized for the arrival of a different child.”
Knauf revealed that he was one of the first people to learn Princess Charlotte was born, but Buckingham Palace wasn’t going to announce the news for a few hours. In order to prepare the press release, Knauf had a note with all the necessary details, but he had to keep his poker face on.
“I’m still out there with hundreds of journalists … and then I couldn’t find the piece of paper, and I think I had dropped it.”
Are you kidding?!
” … Somewhere on that street, the entire time was a piece of paper that said there had been a little princess born, what time, and how much she weighed.”
Meaning that if any one of the hundreds of reporters spotted a stray piece of nondescript paper and picked it up, thinking it could be more than just some litter, they would have found the golden ticket! And perhaps they would have run with this “source,” or they would have mulled over the ethics and implications for so long that they would eventually hear the real announcement.
And, sure, everything there was accurate, but the new parents obviously wanted to be the ones to control the narrative and the timing. And think about what kind of precedent it would set if a reporter found a random piece of paper with a “tip” and just ran with it. I mean, if a note about a royal baby‘s birth ended up being right, who’s to say a paper airplane detailing a royal’s death would be wrong?
Knauf said he never found the paper. “Neither did any of the media though, so that’s all that really mattered,” he added.
Unlike Princess Beatrice’s pregnancy announcement, Princess Charlotte’s birth announcement was not flubbed. The royal family was able to reveal that the little girl was born at 8:34 a.m., weighing 8 lbs, 3 oz, on May 2, 2015 — the same day Middleton and Prince William stepped out to give the world the first glimpse of the new princess.
Before you go, check out every time Prince Louis had his big sister in his corner.
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