The Prince and Princess of Wales are parents of three — but who is the good cop? Photo / AP
The Prince and Princess of Wales are parents of three — but who is the good cop? Photo / AP
Is Kate Middleton the bad cop when it comes to her and Prince William’s parenting tactics at home? “Surely not!”
In May, the Prince and Princess of Wales led the royal family at the garden party at Buckingham Palace, just a few days after King Charles’ coronation. While chatting with the esteemed invitees, Kate met Aldith Grandison, 93, and her daughter, Jay Cee La Bouche, and the three got on like a house on fire, chatting about everything from parenting to jokes.
“I’m terrible. I’m terrible at jokes,” Kate revealed in a clip shared by Sky News, going on to say that her husband, on the other hand, was “very good”.
“You’re the strict one,” Grandison quipped to the royal, prompting Kate to respond with a giggle, “I’m definitely not strict! How can you tell that? Surely not!”
The Waleses have tried to give their three kids — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — as normal an upbringing as possible while also acquainting them with their royal roles in preparation for the future.
“Those children look pretty happy with life,” a close source to the royals recently revealed to People. “A lot of it is the stabilising normality Kate brings — and that’s how she grew up. William absolutely loves it.”
Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte at home. Photo / Twitter
A palace insider added, “Coming from a different background, she appreciates the importance of having family time. She wasn’t brought up in that aristocratic setting where you see the children for a short time each day.”
Kate, the eldest child in Carole and Michael Middleton’s brood of three, grew up in the village of Bucklebury. Her upbringing in the countryside ignited her love of the outdoors, where she enjoyed activities such as “boulder hopping” in the Lake District.
These days, the Prince and Princess of Wales drive their children to school most days and always ensure someone is at home when they come back. What’s more, the family don’t mind making a mess, whether it’s cooking pizza, baking cakes — Kate is known for staying up late to make birthday cakes for her three kids — or playing sports outside. In a 2020 interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Kate revealed she is happiest when “I’m with my family outside in the countryside, and we’re all filthy dirty”.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have been seen on many occasions engaging in ordinary activities such as trips to the supermarket or snacking from the boot of the car while their dad plays polo.
The Prince of Wales and Prince George watch from the box during day four of the second Ashes test match at Lord's, London. Photo / Getty Images
The Prince of Wales has also been spotted having fun with his brood in the great outdoors — from encouraging their love of sports such as tennis and football, to introducing them to his love of flying helicopters. William’s sweet relationship with his three kids was on full display recently in a series of portraits released on Father’s Day.
Back in the day, parents within the royal family often used to enlist the help of nannies while they carried out their royal duties. In fact, when the now-King Charles and Princess Anne were children, they could see their monarch mum in only two scheduled “meetings” every day. Even when Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born in the 1960s, it was a “nanny-dominated world”, biographer Ingrid Seward previously told People.
However, Prince William and Princess Kate were given permission by the late Queen Elizabeth and then-Prince Charles to put their focus into raising their family before ticking off public duties.
“Royal families over the generations haven’t had the chance to get those foundations right, but they have,” a friend revealed.
