Playtime at the palace
A peek inside George and Charlotte’s world
As he’s opened up in the past month on the role his mother Diana played in his life as a child, Prince William has been adamant he wants his own kids to have a similarly happy and down-toearth childhood.
And behind the walls of Kensington Place, he and the Duchess of Cambridge are ensuring that happens, with outdoor games, family dinners and casual Sunday mornings a must for their young family.
“While they feel it’s crucial to make them aware of their backgrounds, it’s also vital for both George and Charlotte to have as much normalcy as possible,” says a source close to the royal couple, who have banned iPads in the house in favour of traditional games Kate and William, both 35, grew up with.
ForF Prince George, four, that’stha “anything with wheels” accordingacc to royal insiders. WilliamWil and his son strap on their helmets and go on long bike rides together, usually when staying at their country home in the sleepy village of Anmer in Norfolk. As they ride – George has just given up his training wheels! – they’ll have long conversations, in which he’ll ask his dad thousands of questions.
“He’s full of curiosity about everything around him,” says our source. “He’s growing up to be a very confident young boy.”
The little prince is a huge fan of dinosaurs and loves visiting the skeletons at London’s Natural History Museum, of which his mother is a patron. “George loves the T-Rex because it’s the noisiest and the scariest,” tells Kate.
He also has a keen interest in volcanoes and is “very good at arts and crafts”, boasts his proud father, adding, “George likes doing his stickers. He is big into his stickers.”
Both George and Charlotte enjoy kids’ book TheGruffalo and love listening to the story on tape during long car journeys. William adds that they watch a lot of cartoons as a family, laughing, “Some of them are really good, but you have to pretend you’re really interested in it because George gets very upset if you’re not showing due diligence to the characters.” George’s favourite show is
FiremanSam, while Charlotte is a fan of PeppaPig, a series her brother has recently outgrown, tells William.
Meanwhile, though George sticks close to his father when
he’s home, Charlotte’s a mummy’s girl at heart. “Mummy definitely has a shadow,” says a source close to the Middleton family. “Wherever Kate goes, so does Charlotte.”
On Sundays, that’s into the kitchen, where Kate will cook a fry-up for her family herself, despite there being a housekeeper on hand, with two-year-old Charlotte there to “help” with a miniature kitchen play set.
“Whenever the housekeeper or Kate are preparing food, Charlotte needs her own little toy set by her side to imitate,” says the family friend, who adds that the tot’s other favourite toys are from the Disney Princess range. “I don’t think it’s quite dawned on her that she’s a princess herself!”
Pony express!
Following in the footsteps of the horse-mad royal family, Charlotte is also keen on ponies. Kate – who’s allergic to horses – has said while she’s not very knowledgeable about equestrian sports, she’ll encourage the hobby and reveals Charlotte has had a go at riding.
When George isn’t at nursery, he and Charlotte are often seen racing along the corridors as they play. “He’s very protective of her, but they still like a bit of rough and tumble,” reports a palace insider. “She’s not afraid of a grazed knee and it’s most certainly not going to stop her from running around like a girl possessed. Charlotte’s always got her eye on something and she moves at the speed of light!”
Family visits are important too for the young royals. When Kate and William have official duties that take them away in the evening, maternal parents Carole, 62, and Michael Middleton, 68, are their favourite babysitters, and will often spend the entire weekend with the foursome.
The Queen is a favoured visitor too. While the 91-year-old monarch’s work schedule makes it tough to have regular catch-ups with her great-grandchildren, “she spends time with George and Charlotte as much as she can”, tells our insider.
For William, the support of his extended family has been a huge help in providing the home he’s been determined to create for his children.
“Stability at home is so important to me,” he says. “I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world, and that is so important to both of us as parents.”parents.