Raising royals while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy isn’t simple, but Kate Middleton is dedicated to providing her children with a grounded upbringing. To achieve this, she has become part of the all-too-familiar ‘parents’ WhatsApp group, a platform bustling with messages from fellow mums and dads, which resonates with many parents out there.
The insights into the royal’s parenting approach were highlighted in the recent Channel 5 documentary titled ‘Prince George: How To Make a Monarch,’ where Royal experts and past aides shared details about how the future King is being raised. Ailsa Anderson, the former Press Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, disclosed: “Apparently Catherine has a WhatsApp group where she communicates with other parents, so it’s very much, quite a normal upbringing.”
Further adding depth to the discussion, psychotherapist Lucy Beresford noted the conscious efforts by William and Kate to integrate everyday experiences for their children—George, Charlotte, and Louis—with their Royal existence.
She commented: “I think William and Kate, making sure that George, Charlotte and Louie have these normalising experiences where they just interact with really normal people, actually gives them that grounded sense that they are human beings like the rest of us, they’re not rarefied, they’re not elevated and it could hopefully dilute that sense of ‘I’m invincible’.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Royal correspondent, India McTaggart, has given her take on Kate’s approach to parenting, suggesting it’s deeply rooted in her own family background. McTaggart said that Kate has “brought so much from her Middleton upbringing and her family values, that I think has completely informed the way that she is raising the next generation of Royals”, reports the Mirror.
Like any parent with children nearing their teens, Kate and William are approaching a key crossroads – choosing the right secondary school. Among the considerations for the prestigious place of learning are Marlborough College, which Kate attended between 1996 and 2000, and Eton College, alma mater to George’s father and uncle, noted for nurturing numerous notable British personalities throughout its history.