THE ROYALS
AS HE CELEBRATES TURNING SEVEN, OK! DISCOVERS HOW “POPULAR LITTLE BOY” PRINCE GEORGE IS BEING PROTECTED FROM THE HEAVY BURDEN OF KINGSHIP THAT HIS FATHER FAMOUSLY STRUGGLED WITH
The official new portraits of Prince George released by his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to mark his seventh birthday illustrate just how much he’s grown up in the last year.
The two images, which were taken by Kate at Anmer Hall in early July, show the carefree gap-toothed heir to the throne dressed very casually compared to his Peter Pan collar shirts of old.
In one picture he wears a £10 camouflage T-shirt while in the other he’s in a £7.99 khaki polo shirt by Mango – his choice of clothes thought to be a nod to his obsession with helicopters and his family’s links to the military. The camouflage top in particular is reminiscent of an army jacket worn by his father William as a young boy.
The photographs give the impression of a happy little boy, who seems untroubled by the potential responsibilities of being a future king.
“George is an absolute pleasure to be around and that’s down to his parents,” says royal expert Katie Nicholl. “They’re not raising him to be spoilt or to have an inflated sense of his own importance. He doesn’t get special treatment just because he’s the future heir. They make a point of ensuring their three children feel equal and that they’re all treated the same.”
Despite their efforts, George, who’s currently third in line to the throne, is still thought to be aware that he’s different in some way from Princess Charlotte, five, and two-year-old Prince Louis. But unlike his father, who as a young man felt the weight of his kingship a heavy one to bear, George is being protected from that burden and the inevitability of how his life is set to pan out.
“I think George understands, like William did from a very early age, that he’s different from his younger brother and sister and that he’ll have a different future,” says Katie. “After all, he gets taken away to do photoshoots with Her Majesty the Queen, so he must notice he’s been singled out.
“But I don’t think William and Kate have made a big thing of saying to George, ‘One day you will be King.’ They want to protect him from that moment, so it’s an idea that’s being introduced to him gradually. The true enormity of what his life will one day be isn’t something he’s fully aware of yet.”
William and Kate’s decision to play down the importance of his future role is perhaps partly down to how William felt in his adolescent years, troubled by the suffocating sense of duty that lay ahead.
“As a young man, William really struggled with that notion of kingship. The realisation that he had no choice about which path his life would take, that he couldn’t become a doctor or a vet if he chose, weighed very heavily on him,” says Katie, who is the author of William And Harry: Behind The Palace Walls.
“He got treated differently from his younger brother. When the boys went for tea with the Queen Mother, William would get the first choice of sandwiches or cake. It was
‘the true enormity of what his life will one day be isn’t something george is aware of yet’
all about William. I think that’s why Diana overcompensated in terms of her affection for Harry because she was very aware that he didn’t get the same attention William got.”
Kate, who showed off new highlights when she and William announced the Royal Foundation’s £1.8million fund to support frontline workers and the nation’s mental health last week, spoke in February about the importance of ensuring children don’t feel alone with their worries. She said, “Helping children to feel confident about seeking support can have a transformational impact on their lives.”
Along with her husband, she’ll not only be keen to shield George from the knowledge that he’ll one day devote his life to serving the nation, but will encourage him to voice any questions he has about his future role.
It’s even thought that the royal couple chose Thomas’s Battersea for his early years of schooling because of its nurturing environment and the focus on “being kind”.
“There was quite a big fuss about George’s arrival at the school. Bulletproof glass was installed and the presence of protection officers sets him apart from his peers. His classmates were clearly very aware there was something different about him from the start. They know he’s a prince and they call him ‘PG’, which is short for Prince George.”
But being a future king hasn’t made him a target for bullying.
“From what I’m told, he doesn’t get teased at school. He’s actually
very popular,” says Katie. “Although he’s more introvert compared to his siblings, he’s an extremely kind little boy and has a gentle nature. He’s also very impressive on the football pitch and before lockdown he was playing in an outside team regularly. The fact that he’s sporty and is a talented footballer has certainly boosted his popularity.”
George spent his birthday on 22 July in Norfolk with his family, enjoying a small, low-key party. While palace officials didn’t reveal the exact nature of the gifts he received, a “really noisy” toy will have been among the selection, courtesy of his godmother Julia Samuel.
Julia, who was a friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, said, “I do to George what [Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making.”
Speaking on the podcast How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, she went on to say, “William then has to spend days putting all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that... it makes George laugh.”
Describing George as “amazing”, she added, “He’s funny and feisty and cheeky and God she [Diana] would have loved him so much.”
While royal fans went wild for the similarities in the birthday photos between George and his maternal uncle James Middleton, the Queen and Prince Charles led the congratulations on social media.
Royal photographer Matt Porteous, who took George’s third birthday portraits, praised talented Kate’s efforts, describing the new photos of her eldest child as “wonderful”.
Kate and William meanwhile thanked everyone on Instagram for “your very kind wishes on Prince George’s birthday”.
You’re welcome!