If the press and Facebook are to be believed, there was only one baby born last week - Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. And judging by the Queens collection of jewels and such, he was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Let’s just say finances are the last thing he is going to be worried about. This got me thinking, how do the rich take care of their little ones?
A quick search on the internet and soon enough I was wading through extravagant nurseries, suites for toddlers and designer dummies. One Jeweller even went as far as making a 250gram platinum dummy worth over a staggering R800 000. Let’s hope the package states ‘for decorative use only’.
Then there were the cribs. I guess it’s never too early start your youngling on the luxury path with pampered living. First up, we have the Intellicot which has as much gadgetry as your latest smartphone. This crib boasts automatic features such as a raising mattress to save your bad back, air circulation to keep baby at the right temperature and a video monitoring system so you can check on your bundle of joy whilst counting your money.
For those who want a little more luxury for their precious little one, there is the Majestic Carriage Crib. It goes for around R100 000 from the aptly named Posh Tot store, but its solid cedar frame and frilly bits will let everyone know your child is indeed a perfect princess.
But just having an extravagant home for your tot will not be enough, the must be rollin’ in style too. This techie stroller collapses with the push of a button, which will no doubt be useful with the pesky paparazzi on your heels. Added to that, it has headlights for those night time strolls and even a LCD screen that displays how fast you are going. This could be dangerous for the competitive parent.
However, if you want your lil’ pimp to have street cred, you should definitely go for Aston Martin’s Silver Cross Surf Stroller. Sporting the same leather used in their cars, aluminium alloy wheels based the Aston Martin One-77 and an air-ride suspension system, this stroller really is a cut above the rest. There are only 800 available exclusively from Harrods, so you better hurry.
These luxury items are just the tip of the iceberg and there are literally thousands of items costing thousands of Rands available. Perhaps, however, it really is worth remembering that children who get to experience these fancy ‘toys’ are no more special than the thousands born into poverty every day. Let’s take a moment to think about them and consider how their lives could change if they received the same amount of media attention as those born into a life of privilege.