words by Carol King
Only the day after the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy was announced, an artisan in Naples has created a nativity scene to honour the event.
Genny Di Virgilio works in the city’s Via San Gregorio Armeno, which is world famous for its handcrafted nativity figurines. Quick off the mark, he incorporated figures of the British royal couple in a nativity scene.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is depicted in a long, white dress with her hand covering a small bump and her long hair worn down over her shoulders. Her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, is shown by her side in the outfit he wore on his wedding day: the red tunic of an Irish Guards officer with a blue Garter sash.
The Duke and Duchess follow in the footsteps of the Prince’s mother: the Naples craftsmen also created figurines of Diana, Princess of Wales. Figurines on sale in the street encompass the traditional and the contemporary. In recent years, there have been figurines of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, soccer star Mario Balotelli and fashion designer Gianni Versace.
Her Royal Highness is in King Edward VII Hospital in central London being treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of morning sickness. This is the first child for the Duke and Duchess and, subsequent to impending changes in legislation regarding succession, will become monarch, whether a boy or a girl.
