Prince William and Princess Kate have reportedly left other parents at their children's schools 'gently amused' by their hands-on approach at parties, where they organise games like rounders and cricket themselves rather than hiring entertainers.
Normal childhood for royal children
As Prince George approaches his 13th birthday, Prince William has reiterated his determination to give his children the 'normal' childhood that few previous generations of the Royal Family experienced. Speaking on Eugene Levy's Reluctant Traveller documentary, William said: 'I do try and stick to school timetables as best as possible. Most days we're in and out of school doing pick-ups and drop-offs.'
He added: 'Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important because, for me, the most important thing in my life is family.' Unlike King Charles, who spent much of his childhood with nannies while his parents were overseas, William and Kate are regular sights at their children's sports matches and plays.
Parental involvement at school events
Daily Beast journalist Tom Sykes, writing on his Substack, spoke to parents connected to Thomas's Battersea in London and Lambrook in Berkshire – the two schools attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales's children. One parent from Lambrook told Sykes: 'I went to the house for a kid's birthday party, and [William and Kate] were the ones organising the games and playing rounders. Any of us lot would get an entertainer in and sit in the house drinking rosé.'
Writing in The Sun, Emily Andrews said that William and Kate's 'hands-on approach' at parties left fellow parents 'gently amused'. A friend of the royal couple gave further insight, saying: 'The prince and princess have put in boundaries to give their children an incredibly normal upbringing in the circumstances. How they decide when they show up at events is carefully balanced. The prince has always wanted to give them the normal upbringing that he didn't have.'
Privacy and family time
Prince George's childhood is unlike that of previous heirs to the throne. He has enjoyed far more privacy than even his father had, and has spent more time with both parents. In a 2016 interview, William said: 'If I can't give my time to my children ... I worry about their future.' He added: 'I think royal duty is extremely important. It's part of the fabric of what the royal family and any future monarch has ... I want to bring my children up as good people with the idea of service and duty to others as very important. But it's about finding your own way at the right time, and if you're not careful, duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot at a very early age, and I think you've got to develop into the duty role.'
Strict rules on technology
While William and Kate have worked to make George's life as normal as possible, there are differences from the average British teenager. William told Eugene Levy: 'None of our children have phones, which we're very strict about.' Instead, the family spends time together: 'We sit and chat. It's really important.' With both the King and the Princess of Wales receiving cancer diagnoses in the past couple of years, there is a lot to discuss. William told a Brazilian news outlet: 'We choose to communicate a lot more with our children. Every family has its own difficulties and its own challenges. It's very individual and sort of moment-dependent as to how you deal with those problems.'
