Heir Apparent

Why William and Kate's firstborn, due in mid-July, is already a figure of global influence

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Patrick van Katwijk / DPA / Corbis

Catherine, pregnant Duchess of Cambridge, names a Princess Cruises ship 'Royal Princess' at Ocean Terminal, Southampton Docks, Hampshire, Britain, June 13, 2013.

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Her optimism finds an echo in the garden of the Duchess of Cambridge pub. Lucy Flinders passes her son Flint to his father Louis Fowler, 32, a teaching assistant. "Every generation of royals is more open, more normal," says Fowler. If a grownup Flint finds himself one day in a pub garden, celebrating Baby Cambridge's own first baby--or coronation--it will mean two central British traditions have weathered testing times.

In the meantime, publicans Waind and Boult have decided how to celebrate the royal birth at the Duchess of Cambridge, by offering a 50-pence discount--about 80¢--on every pint of beer sold on the day of the birth. The scheme may add, in a small way, to the anticipated global baby-powered miniboom, but nobody seems to need much incentive to raise a glass. Baby Cambridge arrives burdened with great expectations--but also to the warmest of welcomes.

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