Inside Kate Middleton's ‘Incredible Bond' With Sons Prince George and Prince Louis: ‘They're Mama's Boys'
His first wife, Princess Diana, broke the cycle, insisting on forging a new parenting path before her untimely death in 1997. 'I remember [her] telling me that she wanted her [sons Prince William, 42, and Prince Harry, 40] to be brought up in a way no other royal princes had been,' former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond wrote in The i Paper in December. 'And she did her best to give them an idea of what life beyond the palace walls is like,' from secret trips to McDonald's to clandestine vacations to Disney World.
William and his wife, Princess Kate, she added, 'have gone further.' While they can't change the fact that their kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, 'have been born into an extraordinary destiny,' the former royal correspondent explained, 'they've also given them a taste of a more ordinary existence.'
From doing school runs to attending sports practices to spending quality time 'outside in the countryside [when] we're all filthy dirty' — as the Princess of Wales, 43, recounted to the 'Happy Mum, Happy Baby' podcast — 'it's all helped Kate forge an incredible bond with her children,' notes a royals source, adding that she, George and Louis have that 'classic mother-son' connection. 'They're mama's boys, but not in the sense that they cling to her — they're both very independent. They just adore Kate and want her approval!'
To George and Louis, she's not a future queen — she's simply their mum.
'Being a good mother is what's most important to Kate, and she works at it,' says the source, calling her parenting style 'hands-on' and 'playful, but firm.' 'Kate prioritizes being present, engaged. She cooks with them, does silly dances with them — her 'Little Grape' and her 'Lou-Bug.'' The royal's instincts have long been to reenforce the values her middle-class parents, Carole, 70, and Michael Middleton, 75, instilled in her growing up in rural Bucklebury, England. Instead of pomp and circumstance, she focuses on 'the simple things,' like 'watching a fire on a really rainy day ... going for a walk together,' Kate shared on the aforementioned podcast, noting 'it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures.'
Plenty of pressure already awaits. To mitigate that, the Waleses have taken a gentler approach to royal duties for their kids, electing to 'wait a little bit longer,' William told Sky News in November, explaining, 'They're at school and I think that takes priority over everything else.'
All three currently attend the $30,000-a-year coed Lambrook School near their home on the Windsor Castle estate. But in a matter of months, George will be moving on to secondary school, which has sparked debate. Recent U.K. media reports claim Kate wants to break with royal tradition by giving George and his siblings a more 'normal' education at a coed institution, British royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital in April — perhaps Marlborough College, her alma mater. William, however, reportedly wants his heir at Eton College, the all-boys boarding school where he and Harry were educated. Kate, Hilary claimed, would prefer the children remain together and that George 'live at home versus a boarding school.'
Supporting George and Louis' bond with each other is a priority, too. 'Kate wants to make sure George and Louis stay connected,' says the source, 'un-like William and Harry,' who've been estranged for years amid deep-rooted issues that began festering decades ago, the Duke of Sussex alleged in his 2023 memoir, Spare. 'No one wants the same fate for Kate's boys.'
She's also working to ensure her sons continue to see her as a guiding force. 'All boys go through a stage of pulling away from their mom, so she's taking advantage of every second she has with them now,' says the source, 'She's extremely proud of George and Louis and will continue raising them to be respectful and in- dependent — that's her focus.'
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