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New British royal baby faces tricky life as the "spare"

Friday, April 10, 2015 - 01:54

The newest member of Britain's royal family, due to make an entrance later this month when Prince William's wife Kate gives birth to the couple's second baby, will be taking on one of its toughest roles - life as ''spare to the heir''. Kathi Urban reports.

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When Prince George's little brother or sister will make their entrance later this month he or she will be taking on one of the toughest roles in Britain's royal family - life as the "spare to the heir." Whilst the path of Prince William and his wife Catherine's first born has already been laid out - the younger offspring's future is less clear. SOUNDBITE: Royal Historian, Hugo Vickers, saying (English): "I think the difficulty is just that one thing - that you never quite know if you're going to be called upon to become king, or instead have what you if you're being really cynical could say a relatively pointless life." And there have been examples within Britain's royal family where suddenly the younger sibling had to step up to do the top job. The queen's grandfather George V, was a spare but became monarch after his elder brother died aged 28. Elizabeth's father became George VI after older brother Edward abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. And even those who didn't end up replacing their older siblings as king or queen found their lives to be under a lot of scrutiny. Both Princess Margaret, the queen's younger sister, and equally Prince Andrew, younger brother of Prince Charles, have had a tricky time with the media. William's brother Prince Harry may be popular with the public, but he too is stuck with the "spare" role. Earning a reputation as a wild child, in 2012, these pictures taken in Las Vegas made headlines around the world. But the prince seems to have learned his lesson. SOUNDBITE: Prince Harry, saying (English): "I probably let myself down, let my family down, let other people down. But at the end of the day, I was in a private area. There should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect." "It was probably a classic example of me being probably too much army and not enough prince. It's a simple case of that." So what does the future hold for Britain's latest royal edition? As with Prince George, there's going to be huge interest in William and Kate's new baby. However royal watchers believe the couple's down-to-earth parenting approach might actually help George's younger sibling to cope better than perhaps some of his relatives.