What better way to celebrate the royal christening of Prince George than looking how we celebrated Prince Williams own christening. Portrayed as paper dolls are proud parents Princess Diana and Prince Charles. In real life Diana dressed in pink & white floral print dress, pink hat and necklace. Illustration from “Chuck & Di Have a Baby’ by John Boswell 1982

Princess Diana’s presence will be felt at the Royal Christening of Prince George.

Prince William will honor his mother at  Prince George’s baptism by holding his sons christening in the Chapel Room of St James Place, the same room where Princess Diana’s body was kept before her funeral in 1997.

Little Prince

Illustration Of Prince Williams Royal Nursery from Vintage Paper Doll Book “Chuck & Di Have a Baby” by John Boswell 1982. The nursery awaits being filed with the thousands of gifts and toys that would be sent to him from well wishers around the world

Each new step of the royal baby is watched with bated breath by an adoring public, anxious to record each and every memory.

Since Prince Georges birth, the souvenir market has been cashing in. For months commemorative memorabilia has gone into production for Prince George flooding UK shops and now with his christening, souvenir, plates, cups and dolls are in place.

Its déjà vu all over again.

The last time the world went on such a rabid royal baby watch was 31 years ago in June of 1982 when Princess Diana and Prince Charles welcomed the birth of Prince William.

Vintage Paper Doll Book “Chuck & Di Have a Baby” by John Boswell 1982

Even without twitter, instagram and facebook, it was a veritable circus with reporters photographers, and well wishers staked outside the hospital, while stores were stacked with commemorative booties, blankets and biscuits.

Just as today, the wave of royal baby fever spread across the pond to the US and the anticipation was palpable. The buzz was as frenzied over Diana’s first baby as it is over Kate Middletons as office pools speculated whether baby would be a boy or a girl, and who would be the godparents.

For a brief moment in the late spring of 1982, Reagan era Americans forgot about Thriller, ET and the rising cost of gas (a whopping 91 cents a gallon) and got caught up in a real life fairy tale happening overseas.

American fans of that golden couple, Prince Charles and Princess Diana could have fun browsing through the commemorative memorabilia.

For the millions who couldn’t get enough of this 20^th century fairy tale there appeared a paper doll book cheekily called “Chuck & Di Have a Baby” by John Boswell Patty Brown and Will Elder. Published by Simon and Shuster right before the actual birth of the Duke of Cambridge in 1982, it featured cut-outs of Charles and Diana and the anxiously awaited Royal Baby.

We were still aglow from the fairy tale wedding of the century that had taken place the previous July. Charles was still Prince Charming, his beautiful shy Princess was still smitten with him; any whiff of scandal lay far into the future.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Royal Baby Watch