If William and Kate are in fact expecting a little girl, as Kate seemed to have potentially hinted at this week, the Princess will be the cornerstone of the next generation of Europe's young royals, predominantly future queens.Princess Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess Leonor of Spain, Princess Ingrid of Norway and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium all share the same destiny as monarch; as does Princess Estelle of Sweden, one, who is the youngest of the group and will be closest in age to William and Kate's royal baby.Prince Christian of Denmark will be in good company, but most definitely outnumbered.
It was the slightest slip of the tongue earlier this week for Kate Middleton but enough for her to spark fierce speculation that she is expecting a baby girl. Accepting a teddy from a wellwisher this week she said, "Thank you, I'll take that for my d... ". The Duchess of Cambridge didn't finish her sentence. But the rest of the world filled in the blanks with the word "daughter. "At the moment, Europe's princesses are little girls surrounded by big expectations. But in the generations to come, perhaps alongside their British counterpart, they will become queens who reign in unison and in their own right. Everything is in place for William and Kate's baby to follow suit, regardless of gender. In December 2012, The government reached an agreement with all other Commonwealth countries to press ahead with a bill ending discrimination against women in the British monarchy.
"The government will soon introduce the Succession to the Crown Bill which will make our old fashioned rules fit for the 21st Century," Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said. "It will write down in law what we agreed back in 2011 – that if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a baby girl, she can one day be our Queen even if she later has younger brothers." In line with tradition, the sex of a royal heir is never revealed before the birth. So the world will now have to wait until a formal announcement is made when the baby arrives in July.Continental Europe will watch with particular interest, hoping the British royals continue the trend of future queens.
