Some People Aren't Happy About the New Royal Baby
Kensington Palace's announcement last week that Will and Kate are expecting a third child spurred a joyous media frenzy. News outlets (including our own) issued congratulations to the expecting couple and then immediately started predicting names for the future royal baby and chronicling Duchess Kate's best maternity looks.
But not everyone is so thrilled about the new heir to the throne.
Earlier this year, the British government passed a cap on child tax credits. Families would only be able to claim the incentive, which can be worth up to ￡2,780 per year for each child, for their first two kids. (A few exceptions are made for adoptions, multiple births, and the controversial "rape clause," which makes a special case for children born as a result of "non-consensual conception" and is furthered explained here by the BBC.)
Needless to say, the less-than-ideal optics of the royals announcing a third child so soon after this legislation passed speak for themselves.
"When news broke this morning that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were set to birth a third child, another royal spawn, the story left a bitter taste in this pleb’s mouth," wrote Michael Segalov for Huck Magazine, a British publication "exploring the many facets of radical culture."
"Because while families up and down the United Kingdom are now struggling to feed and clothe their children, or are being forced to consider carefully whether they can even afford to bring new life into this world, one family living on the most generous benefits scheme this country has ever offered faces no such dilemma. Will and Kate aren’t having to rethink their plans for a family and their futures, their security is coming at the taxpayer’s expense."
To be clear, the majority of Will and Kate's "royal allowance" doesn't come from the taxpayers (though a portion of their funding does), but the point still stands, and was made many times over on Twitter.