A budding environmentalist, a rugby fan, an art lover... there are many sides to the young royal who will one day sit on the throne. Photo / Getty Images
A budding environmentalist, a rugby fan, an art lover... there are many sides to the young royal who will one day sit on the throne. Photo / Getty Images
The eyes are direct to camera. The smile is open and engaging. Looking more mature than his years, and remarkably like his father, it’s clear from the photograph that Kensington Palace have released to mark his birthday that Prince George, who turns 10 today, is becoming more comfortable with the responsibilities that will eventually fall to him.
As the blue-eyed toddler with the determined gaze and careful smile, it seemed almost impossible that this young man would one day hold the future of the monarchy on his shoulders, however much he resembled his grandfather at the same age.
Reaching double figures is an important milestone in any child’s life, but how many of the children at his tenth birthday celebrations this weekend have their lives mapped out for them in quite the same way as Prince George?
It was three years ago when the Prince and Princess of Wales first started to tell their eldest son a little about the role that his grandpa, his father and then he too would one day play.
According to royal historian Robert Lacey’s book, Battle of Brothers, George learned of his inherited role around his seventh birthday, in the summer of 2020, when, wrote Lacey, “his parents went into more detail about what the little prince’s life of future royal ‘service and duty’ would particularly involve”.
The late Queen set the example of duty throughout her reign and it continues to drive the Royal family after her death. This past year Prince George, her great-grandson, has had his first taste of what that word truly means. As a solemn, stoic presence at the State funeral and a page of honour at the Coronation, the perfectly behaving youngster had a front-row seat to two pivotal moments in history.
The new image of Prince George to mark his 10th birthday. Photo / Kensington Palace Millie Pilkington
Less formally, William and Kate have introduced George to public life at sporting fixtures and the odd charitable engagement. In the crowds at Wimbledon, he seemed a serious little chap, but quietly confident too, and close to his siblings.
While the young prince can appear less boisterous than his little brother (already a camera puller at just five) and less assured than his sister, one source told the Daily Mail: “George has turned into a confident little boy and loves meeting new people. [He doesn’t] get nervous in public and [is] already showing signs of becoming [a] great leader.”
For his father, George’s landmark birthday perhaps has added poignancy. Prince William was 10 when his parents separated in 1992. Seeing his son (who enjoys as stable a home life as a little boy in the public glare could hope to have) begin to find his way in the world, he must find himself reflecting on the turbulent times he and his brother endured when their parents’ marriage fell apart.
Contrast the touching family scenes that unfolded in the Royal Box at Wimbledon last Sunday with what we now know was going on behind closed doors in Kensington Palace when William was growing up, and the two future kings’ childhoods seem worlds apart.
Kate, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Britain's Prince William sit in the Royal Box on Centre Court for the final of the men's singles at Wimbledon tennis championships. Photo / AP
Although Charles and Diana undoubtedly loved their sons, their unhappy marriage had grave consequences for the entire family. As Prince Harry testified in his autobiography, Spare, life became very difficult after their parents separated – events that ended with their mother’s untimely death in 1997.
The current Prince and Princess of Wales are determined to do things differently while raising George, his eight-year-old sister Princess Charlotte and his brother Prince Louis, five.
Diana was undoubtedly a hands-on mother – but the couple have taken this further by ensuring that one of them is always around at breakfast and bedtime.
Diana, Princess of Wales with Prince William at Guards Polo Club in 1988. Photo / Getty Images
“Diaries are very carefully managed to ensure that one of them is always there for the children,” confirmed one insider. “They are the ones doing the school run most days.” As one friend recently told the Mirror, this is a no-frills affair: “There are no blow-dries – it’s always hair up in a ponytail.
“She’s often in her gym clothes, with very little makeup, apologising as she’s late before dashing off.”
The Princess revealed during a parenting podcast interview in February 2020, that she suffers “mum guilt” too.
Britain's Prince George, Kate Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Louis, Prince William and Princess Charlotte, arrive at Lambrook School. Photo / AP
“Anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying,” she said, admitting that it was “a constant challenge”.
“Even this morning… George and Charlotte were like, ‘Mummy, how could you possibly not be dropping us off at school this morning?’”
The school run became easier when the family moved from London to Windsor, with all three children joining Lambrook School in Bracknell last September. William and Kate have immersed themselves in school life, attending sporting fixtures and apparently even a recent quiz night.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George of Cambridge visit the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford on July 8, 2016. Photo / Getty Images
In public, the Princess deftly helps all three children behave for the cameras, distracting them with things of interest in the crowd or calming them if it overwhelms – as it did once in 2016 at the Royal Air Show, when a three-year-old Prince George had a wobble and needed his mother’s comfort.
Keen to avoid the sibling rivalry that has plagued her husband’s relationship with his brother, Kate is careful to treat all her offspring equally – even though one is a future king.
So what sort of little boy is the prince turning out to be?
New photographs released of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis with Sir David Attenborough. Photo / Twitter
We already know he’s a budding environmentalist: in lockdown, for David Attenborough’s documentary, A Life on Our Planet, Kensington Palace shared footage of George, Charlotte and Louis asking the beloved naturalist questions. “Hello, David Attenborough,” George said politely. “What animal do you think will become extinct next?”
William since told the BBC: “[He was] a bit sort of annoyed by the fact they went out litter picking one day and then the very next day, they did the same route, same time, and pretty much all the same litter they picked up was back again.”
When they attended the Wales versus England Six Nations rugby union match in Cardiff in February, the Princess revealed that George was moving up from tag rugby to touch rugby at school. “Because he is tall, he has the physique.”
Prince George of Cambridge attends the Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy at the Beaufort Polo Club on June 10, 2018. Photo / Getty Images
He’ll have his little brother to contend with, though – “They’re always slightly competitive with each other,” she added. “They all love sport, and Louis is mad about rugby.”
George is also thought to have a creative side, inheriting a love of art from both sides of his family. King Charles, like his late father, the Duke of Edinburgh, is an accomplished painter, while George’s mother Kate has a longstanding interest in photography, and studied History of Art at St Andrews University. She is now a patron of several arts organisations, including the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A and the Royal Photographic Society. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
As a doting grandpa, the King has enjoyed growing closer to his grandchildren in recent years, having initially felt a little pushed out by Kate’s parents Michael and Carole Middleton doing the bulk of the babysitting.
Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 13, 2015. Photo / Getty Images
William is also very close to Michael, once admitting that he calls the mild-mannered former British Airways flight dispatcher, “Dad”.
Yet in recent years he has made efforts to bring his own father back into the fold. Speaking on the BBC documentary Prince, Son & Heir: Charles at 70, William revealed he had been “working heavily” on his father spending “more time with the children”.
Originally built for Queen Adelaide in 1831, the four-bedroom home does not have any staff accommodation, so the Waleses are largely going it alone domestically.
While they have retained the services of Maria Borrallo, the Spanish Norland-trained nanny who has been with them since George’s birth, their wider domestic entourage has been significantly scaled back.
“It’s partly by design,” said one source. “They want the children to grow up in a family home rather than a palace.”
Prince William with children Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis & Prince George. Photo / Millie Pilkington
One insider said: “They are very happy right now at Windsor and for the next decade or so everything will be pretty much dictated by what is right for the children.”
In June, the family were spotted looking around Eton with George but no announcements have been made about which school he will attend from the age of 13.
There are undoubtedly challenges ahead, and George turning 10 shows how quickly childhood turns into adolescence.
Like any parents, William and Kate are feeling the pressure when it comes to how to manage their children’s use of devices and social media. As the first royals to grow up in the age of Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, decisions will have to be taken regarding social media.
Catherine holds Prince George as he and Prince William look on while visiting the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum on July 2, 2014. Photo / Getty Images
While they may have control over this now, it gets trickier when dealing with rebellious teenagers.
Another concern is protecting the children’s privacy as they grow in independence. The young William and Harry had the press and paparazzi to worry about – now it’s anyone with an iPhone.
“They are in the unique situation of being famous from birth,” said one former aide. “No other royals have grown up in this environment and it’s going to be tricky to navigate. This is the one thing the royal brothers will want to converse on. Because the decisions facing William and Kate with George will soon be upon Harry and Meghan with Archie.”
Prince George of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales watch an RAF flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 17, 2023 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
William knows all too well what it is like to have your life mapped out before you and is said to be keen to allow all three children to shape their own destiny.
It would be a significant departure for the Royal Family, as the monarch is Commander-in-Chief of Britain’s Armed Forces. George’s father, uncle, grandfather, great-grandmother and great-grandfather all served with the military.
Yet the truth is none of these decisions have yet been made. It is not even certain whether George will be required to become a full-time working royal by the age of 35 or pursue his own career.
Thankfully, for now, none of that matters a jot. Indeed, all that Prince George will have in his sights today will be the cake his mother stayed up all night making for him.
“It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up until midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much,” the Princess revealed to Mary Berry in 2019. “But I love it.” Her sweet, serious, smiling ten-year-old is sure to love it too.
