In a remarkably candid interview during his trip to Brazil, the Prince of Wales has opened up about a modern parenting dilemma creating tension within his household: whether to give his eldest son, Prince George, a mobile phone.
The Royal Phone Dilemma
Prince William revealed that his firm stance against mobile phones for his children is becoming what he described as "a bit of a tense issue" with his twelve-year-old son. The future king previously disclosed that none of his three children - George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis - are permitted to own phones, a position both he and the Princess of Wales have strongly maintained.
However, during his conversation with Brazilian TV host Luciano Huck, filmed while taking a cable car to Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, William hinted this might soon change for his eldest child. "When George moves on to secondary school, maybe he'll have one with limited access," the Prince conceded, suggesting a potential compromise was on the horizon.
Limited Access Solution
William carefully distinguished between different types of mobile access, explaining that his primary concern lies with unlimited internet exposure rather than basic communication functions. "I think it's the full internet access I have a problem with," he stated. "Children can access too much stuff they don't need to see online but having a phone with text messages, the old-style brick phones like we used to call them, that's fine."
The Prince emphasised that he and Catherine regularly communicate their reasoning behind the phone restrictions to their children. "I think he understands why," William said of George. "We communicate why we don't think it's right." This approach aligns with recent comments from Kate Middleton, who published a personal essay expressing concerns about how screens can damage real-life relationships.
Parenting Through Difficult Times
The interview also touched upon the challenging period the family endured following Kate's cancer diagnosis in March 2024. William shared their parenting philosophy of open communication during difficult times, explaining they chose to discuss their family's struggles honestly with all three children.
"We chose to communicate a lot more with our children," William revealed. "That has its good things and its bad things; maybe we share things with the children that we shouldn't. But most of the time, hiding stuff from them doesn't work."
The Prince described their approach as a "balancing act" common to all parents, acknowledging there's "no manual for being a parent." He explained that providing context helps children "relax more into it rather than them thinking what are you hiding, what do I not know."
William's Brazilian visit primarily focused on his environmental initiatives, including the Earthshot Prize Awards held in Rio de Janeiro and a landmark speech at the COP30 climate summit in Belem. Yet it was his revelations about modern royal parenting that offered a particularly relatable glimpse behind palace walls, showing that even future kings grapple with the same digital dilemmas facing families across the United Kingdom.
