What Will Baby Cambridge Do? A Survey of Spares

When Prince George was born nearly two years ago, he entered the world with a definite degree of job security. Like his father and grandfather, Cheeks as firstborn of an heir presumptive will grow up knowing that one day he will be King. For the Duchess of Cambridge’s soon-to-be Prince or Princess, however, a future vocation is not quite as clear. So today we are looking at other Royal Spares (siblings born after the heir) and their jobs to help answer the question “What Will Baby Cambridge #2 Do?”.

Military Service

Throughout history, service in the military was a popular choice among second sons of the nobility, and the Royal Family is no exception. King George VI (who grew up as a Spare) served in the Royal Navy during The Great War. Likewise, Prince Andrew (the Prince of Wales’s younger brother) distinguished himself during the Falklands war, just as Prince Harry has done with his service in the Middle East. With opportunities expanded for women in the military in Britain, this option will be open for either a Prince or Princess of Cambridge.

Royal Duties

While Princess Anne’s (the second oldest of Her Majesty’s children) place in the line of succession is unaffected by the recent removal of male bias primogeniture (despite being second-born, she remains behind brothers Prince Andrew (and his daughters), and Prince Edward (and his children)), her reputation as the “hardest working royal” remains firm as ever. Her work, as well as the work of the other thirteen working members of the Royal Family, serves to support the Queen and her people. The working members of the Royal Family collectively carried out over four thousand engagements in 2014. With such figures to be maintained, Baby Cambridge will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to the workforce.

Fashion Icon

The late Princess Margaret (younger sister to Queen Elizabeth) stood out throughout her lifetime (and, indeed, after) as a fashion icon. Wearer of couture, friend to rock stars, Princess Margaret was emblematic of the 1960s emergence of popular culture. With the intense interest shown to Baby Cambridge’s parents, courting the attention of the fashion world would certainly be within the Prince or Princess’s grasp.

Expat Princess (or Prince)

Another traditional job opportunity for Spares was to build foreign alliances by marriage into other royal families across Europe and beyond. The family resemblance between King George V and Czar Nicholas II – related through their shared grandmother, Queen Victoria – is unmistakable (although, in the end, it did little to change the latter’s fortunes). While this practice is generally out of fashion today, one cannot help but wonder how lovely a Cambridge/Monaco union would be (particularly as Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques of Monaco will come of age within a year of Baby Cambridge #2).

But don’t go too far . . .

We wouldn’t want Baby Cambridge #2 to stray too far from home, however. Remember that George VI and Elizabeth II weren’t born heirs. In the event that Prince Cheeks finds himself besotted with a modern day Wallis Simpson, Baby Cambridge #2 would be next in the line of succession.

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