IT is, of course, good news that the health of the Duchess of Cambridge, pictured, has been improving and that all seems to be well for the birth later this year of another addition to the House of Windsor ("Baby due in July", The Herald January 15).

We will then have the monarchy assured for three further generations in the form of Prince Charles, Prince William, and the Prince/Princess yet to be named. This is obviously a stage beyond what is known as "belt and braces".

Some of us will have to be brave about being faced with month upon month of a media frenzy concerning the birth of this privileged child, to be ennobled from day one of its existence. No doubt there will be a plethora of special supplements and documentaries to regale those of a royalist disposition .

One is tempted to speculate concerning the kind of world in which the young prince or princess will attain adulthood.

Will Scotland still be in the UK ?

Will the UK still be in Europe?

Will the euro still be in circulation ?

Will the Taliban be ruling again in Afghanistan ?

Will China have overtaken the United States as the world's leading superpower ?

Will there have been a constitutional revolution in the UK leading to the introduction of a non-hereditary head of state ? The answer to all the above questions is "probably yes" with the exception of the last.

If one excludes the don't-knows, the don't-cares, and the undecided, it seems that for the foreseeable future, notwithstanding some growth of the republican movement, the majority in the UK are inclined to the preservation of the status quo and are prepared to accept all that comes with the package known as the royal family.

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road,

Lenzie.