TORONTO – If you thought you were the only one throwing tea parties with Will and Kate cardboard cut-outs in anticipation of the royal birth, rest assured – it’s all the rage in Arizona.
“We played guess the due date, guess the weight of the baby and guess the name,” Jo Gemmill of Carefree, Ariz., told the U.K.’s Telegraph. In addition to the cardboard cut-outs, her 150-guest tea party reportedly featured jewel-encrusted baby slippers and a guestbook to be sent to Kensington Palace.
But Americans aren’t the only ones celebrating the royal spawn.
Lights
When the Duchess of Cambridge finally pops, Toronto’s CN Tower will celebrate with an 8-minute top of the hour blue or pink light show. (The tower regularly changes its nightly hue for various causes, special events and holidays, and a royal birth is no exception).
The Monarchist League of Canada is also requesting the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to be lit up pink or blue.
Of course, it will all kick off in London, England when a royal aide leaves the hospital with a signed bulletin on Buckingham Palace letterhead. The bulletin will be given to an official who will be driven to the Palace, where it will be put on an easel in front of the building. At the same time it’s posted, there will be an announcement on Twitter and the media will be formally notified. The document will give the baby’s gender, weight and time of birth.
GALLERY: Royal baby watch begins as media surround Kate’s hospital wing
Guns
Church bells will ring, and reports suggest a 41-gun salute could follow in nearby Green Park to celebrate the new son or daughter.
Street parties are also expected to erupt throughout the U.K., as well as Cape Town, Ottawa and Mexico City, according to reports.
If you’re looking for an accessory to bring to the party, try former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s choice of a knitted kangaroo.
Gillard told The Australian Women’s Weekly she was knitting it as a “cute project,” though she suspects Australia “will probably do something a little more than a stuffed kangaroo.”
Money
The Royal Mint is certainly doing something “a little more” by giving away silver pennies marked with the year 2013 to babies born on the same day as the Duke and Duchess’ first child. Billed as a “lucky” silver penny, the Mint will give away 2,013 at an estimated cost of £50,000, according to The Independent.
Watch below for all the details on the royal coins:
Parents of the lucky babies must apply online by visiting Facebook.com/theroyalmint in the 60 days after birth to receive their penny in a pink or blue pouch.
The Independent reports that offering a silver penny or crossing the palm of a newborn baby with silver is a traditional way to wish them wealth and health throughout life.
Watch: Will the British royal baby be a boy or a girl? Will Prince William and Kate Middleton name the child Diana? Britons are laying down bets on those possibilities and more as the country awaits for the first child of the duke and duchess of Cambridge.
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