This royal tour Down Under is the biggest in a generation.
The accredited media contingent from all over the world is 450-strong for the New Zealand leg and is going to grow even more in Australia.
In my 24 years covering the royals, I have not seen anything like it. Even in the days of the late Princess Diana the media interest was not this big.
The four royal press officers on the ground, including Sally Osman, the new head of royal communications, backed up by the New Zealand office of internal affairs, will be run off their feet.
It shows what an asset William, Kate and baby George are for the monarchy when deployed appropriately. They promote what is good about Great Britain plc — and, of course, the Commonwealth.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, a savvy former banker, privately revealed that although the cost of the trip may be NZ $200,000 at least, the exposure his country gets while the royals are here is worth every penny.
The fact there are television crews from US programmes such as ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s The Today Show, as well as teams from Japan, Germany and of course Australia, shows William and Kate are a global phenomenon.
The tour has been planned very carefully. William’s fingerprints are clearly all over it, too.
The limited number of evening jobs, the rest days — two in New Zealand — and the use of Wellington as a hub while they are here all shows he is in control. He knows the power of this new royal family brand, but, showing his credentials as a future King, he does not want it over-exposed. Every step has been carefully planned.
He knows his son and heir is the focus of the media circus and he is prepared to make only a few concessions over his privacy. The next major outing will be George playing centre stage at a “Plunket Play Group” with other parents and babies at Government House. Then he will be kept away from cameras again until they leave for Australia.
William is resolute, conscious of what the media want, but only prepared to play the game so much.
It is a sign of his confidence in his role as second in line to the throne, as well as his role as a father and husband.
Some media commentators may whine that this new way is limiting but William won’t budge. He is determined to do it his way.
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