HOW THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE AND GIOVANNA CHAMPION PARENT POWER
Sitting down together for an episode of the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in February 2020, Giovanna Fletcher and the Duchess of Cambridge bonded over their shared experiences of being mothers.
Both with three young children to look after, they discussed the pressure of being working mums, with Kate opening up about suffering “mum guilt” as well as her passion for early years development.
Kate also spoke about how her own upbringing influences her parenting style, saying: “I had an amazing granny who devoted a lot of time to us – playing with us, doing arts and crafts, going into her greenhouse, and cooking with us. I try and incorporate a lot of the experiences she gave us at the time to the experiences I give my children.”
MOTHER’S LOVE
Their conversation, which has become the podcast’s most listened- to episode, left Giovanna full of praise for Kate, saying chatting to her was like chatting to any other mother.
“And like with most people as soon as they start talking about their kids, there’s a softness,” she exclusively tells us. “The Duchess is definitely very, very hands-on and fills her kids’ time with adventure.”
Leading up to the podcast – Kate’s first –
Giovanna was “very nervous”, she says: “At that point, she’d not really spoken in that way before. But I don’t think I really realised how big a deal it was until it was played to a few of the royal reporters a couple of weeks later. I think that’s when I realised: ‘Oh, wow.’ It was really fascinating seeing their reaction to it.
“It’s very different reading something in print and actually hearing someone say it, because I guess you really feel the sentiment behind it,” she adds. “I don’t think I’d ever heard her speak so much before on anything else, so it was definitely a proper insight into the Duchess and who she is.
“I feel that weird sense of pride every time I see her now. I think she’s absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to see what she does for early years and the work that she continues to do because there’s so much passion there. She’s so aware of things that are going on and only good things can come from that.
“Before we recorded the podcast, there was going to be another section within it that was with experts on the early years. But as soon as we finished, I said straight away: ‘We don’t need it, we absolutely don’t need it,’ because it undermines the Duchess’s involvement and her personal investment in it.”
Did Giovanna take away any advice from Kate? “Obviously for everyone, it’s that whole mumguilt thing when your kids say: ‘Do you have to go to work today? Can’t you be here with me?’ Knowing that she has that, too, made me feel less alone about leaving my two-year-old, who always wants me at home.”