Royal Baby Watch: Meet the Royal Baby’s Cool Aunt and Uncles - Harry, Pippa and James
Duchess Kate is due any day now with the royal couple's second child.
-- Prince George and his younger brother or sister -- due to be born any day now -- will be brought up in a life of privilege and power. Their parents, Prince William and Duchess Kate, also want to make sure the royal children are grounded and lead a life away from the spotlight, surrounded by love.
William, 32, and Kate, 33, will no doubt look to the children's uncles, Prince Harry and James Middleton, and aunt, Pippa Middleton, to provide fun, friendship and all-important perspective to their children about what it is like as they grow up in the spotlight.
“Prince George and his brother or sister have very cool aunts and uncles," ABC News Royal Contributor and Daily Mirror Royal Correspondent Victoria Murphy told ABC News. "Pippa, James and Harry are really keen to have a laugh and spend as much time as they can with George and his little brother or sister."
Like any set of busy parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will naturally turn to their siblings -- Harry, 32, Pippa, 31, and James, 28 -- for support.
Harry, as the only royal of the trio, will have a particularly unique role.
"He'll be the only person that will know what it feels like to grow up as a kind of spare," said Duncan Larcombe, royal editor of the U.K.'s The Sun newspaper, referring to the new baby's position in royal lineage as fourth in line to the British throne.
With the baby's birth, Harry will move to fifth in line to the throne, behind his father, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
Even more importantly, William and Kate's children will turn to Prince Harry for memories of their grandmother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
"Harry is going to play a role of really continuing his mother's legacy and really keeping that magic alive," Larcombe said. "I think it'll be lovely for Harry to be able to share stories about when he was growing up ... all the fun things he did with Princess Diana."
"I'm sure the young prince or princess will love to sit on Harry’s lap and listen to all those anecdotes and stories," he said.
On Duchess Kate's side of the family, her sister, "it girl" Pippa Middleton, who took the world by storm in that bridesmaid dress at the couple's royal wedding, will no doubt be at Kate's side lending a hand with Prince George and his sister or brother.
Middleton is the very closest person to the Duchess of Cambridge, as Kate’s confidante and the one person she knows she can truly trust. Kate's sister will be at her side as she seeks privacy and normalcy for her children while they grow up in a fishbowl.
Larcombe said Harry's brother and Kate's sister will likely pay special attention to the new baby, who is being born second to Prince George, the future King of England.
"It's actually going to be a huge challenge for William and Kate," Larcombe said. "Because, yes, the first child is showered with attention until the second one arrives, but in this rather strange situation Prince George is going to be the one that gets the lion's share of attention."
“He’s a future King of England”, Larcombe added. “So the dynamic is actually slightly different with a new baby arriving. I think Pippa, Harry and James will be working quite hard to make the younger sibling, the heir to the spare, feel important and feel they have a role.”
James Middleton, "Wonka-in-Chief" of a personalized marshmallow company, "Boomf," told ABC News' Amy Robach last year that he never imagined he’d be uncle to the future King of England and cherishes his relationship with Prince George.
“I still see Prince George as my nephew and I just want to be the best uncle possible,” James Middleton said. “Like any uncle wants to be, I want to be the cool uncle, the fun uncle.
“That’s what sort of [uncle] I’ll always try and be," he said.
Murphy says James Middleton may have some friendly competition in being the "fun" uncle.
"Harry has got the reputation as being naughty Uncle Harry. He likes to have a laugh," Murphy said. "He's going take the opportunity after this next baby is born to spend some time with Prince George and also to get to know the new baby."