I’m going to analyze an article from the “Messaggero Veneto” of the day January 8^th 2013, written by Fiammetta Cupellaro from Rome.
It is introduced by a title and a subtitle, and the body is made up of six paragraphs. At the centre of the article appears a photo, with a brief caption.

The title aims to introduce to the reader the topic of the article. The reader is focused on the words “regole”, “trono” and “preoccupazioni”. The title assumes that the reader already knows who “Carlo” is (prince of Gales) and that he/she understands the article is talking about the UK and its succession to the throne.
The reader expects the article to explain what the new rules are, what are the differences with the past ones and what is Carlo worried about.

The subtitle gives further information about the topic. Its construction is symmetrical to the one of the title. Indeed, as the title’s first focus is on the “new rules”, the subtitles specifies the two main rules that are going to be changed; as the second focus is on Carlo’s concerns, the subtitle specifies what his main concern is.
The subtitle assumes the reader to know some basic information about the succession to the throne and general information about the UK (e.g. how is the heir chosen, what is the main religion). In addition, the term “Salic law” is introduced. The reader should either know what it is, or the article is supposed to explain it further for the average reader.

As a result, we can say the target of the article is an average reader, with a pack of some basic information about the UK.

The photo portraits prince William and his wife Kate. It helps the reader to focus on the topic, understanding some pieces of information implied in the title. The caption helps recognizing the subjects of the photo and adds a further piece of information, that the intelligent reader can easily connect with the one in the subtitle.

The first paragraph introduces the general situation, summing up the information of the title, subtitle, picture and caption. It also explains the average reader the meaning of the word “Salic law”, that comes to the forefront thanks to the brackets.
The main information given by the paragraph the upcoming possibility to have the Salic law modified.
A further information given is the possible link between the reformation of the Salic law and upcoming birth of William and Kate’s baby (increased by the uncertainty of the child’s sex).

The second paragraph focuses on the main changes that may be brought to the Salic law and the concerns of prince Carl.
The paragraph has an ambiguous construction. Indeed it first seems that the prince is concerned about the possibility of William and Kate’s child to ascend the throne in case being a girl and despite having brothers. However, the cause and object of his perplexity is not the change of this rule, but the change of a second one, as underlined shortly after.
It is also true, that the first two sentenced sound contradictory and cause puzzlement in the average reader, and could lead to misunderstandings if read hastily.
The main concern of the prince is so the rule that would allow marriages between a member of the royal family and a catholic. The reader is supposed to know something about the religious debate that has taken place in the English area throughout the centuries and the present religion of England. In order to facilitate the reader to understand the prince’s concern, the article remembers that the king is also the chief of the British Church.

The third paragraph introduces a further question: why did Carl’s perplexity emerge only now? The answer given is not self-explanatory and induces the average reader to read on and understand the meaning of it.

The fourth paragraph explains the last statement of the of previous one, giving a brief and extremely simple description of the procedure needed to change the Salic law.
The prince didn’t say anything before because the situation was not yes clearly defined.
Anyway, the positive reaction of the Commonwealth Countries towards the changes seems to be only related to the first one, and not to consider the one that concerns the prince the most (as underlined by the last lines and the reference to “gender equality”).

The fifth paragraph underlines that the Queen herself agrees with the changes, the reforms seem to be more impending than ever and the prince Carl seems to be the only one raising doubts about them.
The last lines highlight the religious differences at the core of Carl’s concerns and finally allow any reader to understand the main problem (this is the first time the term “Anglican” is used to describe English Church in the article).

The sixth and last paragraph goes completely out of topic, introducing environment care in the article. The link between the two topics is revealed in the last few lines: as the Queen managed to change a centenary law, maybe the prince will manage to change some laws for environmental care.

The last sentence is the key that links the two reforms: as said at the beginning of the article, it seems that the upcoming reforms to the Salic law have found a boost with the arrival of the royal baby; the same baby is the cause of a reinforcement of Carl’s environmental spirit and may be the boost for new environmental laws.