Prince William and Kate Middleton allegedly “delayed” telling their eldest son, Prince George, that he would one day be the King of England to protect his childhood.
Royal biographer Robert Lacey divulged the Prince and Princess of Wales’ parenting tactic with their 12-year-old son in an interview with People published Thursday.
“[George] really has had a period of a normal childhood,” the author told the magazine.
Lacey claimed that William “delayed” telling George of his fate to rule “until the last possible moment.”
“It shows special care and thoughtfulness,” Lacey said, adding, “It also tells us something about how William felt about the weight of the crown.”
Lacey suggested that William has been careful with his word choice so as not to make the child feel pressure surrounding royal expectations.
“I imagine that when William talks to George about things like this, he uses words like ‘destiny’ rather than ‘duty.’ ‘Duty’ has a sense of being trapped; ‘destiny’ has a sense of choice,” Lacey said.
William, 43, is next in the line of succession to the throne after his father, King Charles III, was coronated on May 6, 2023.
Experts have speculated that William is close to becoming king after his father revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer last year.
Sources have claimed that William may push off bestowing George with the Prince of Wales title if the child doesn’t complete finishing school before he becomes the next heir.
“They would want him to focus on having freedom before giving him any royal titles,” a palace source told the magazine.
Another royal author, Robert Hardman, expressed how William is just as committed to parenting a future king as he is to his own role as future monarch.
“William takes his role as father of the future King as seriously as he takes his role as future King. That’s key,” Hardman said. “His overarching priority is making sure they enjoy it rather than fear it.”
William and Middleton — who also share daughter Princess Charlotte, 10, and son Prince Louis, 7 — are united in the idea of raising their kids in a more modern way that previous royals before them.
For example, they strayed from the royal tradition of sending children to a single-gender school and sent George to a co-ed day school.
“That chimes with William wanting to do things in a more modern way, putting all three children in the same school,” royal author Bedell Smith said. “It’s a new direction — groundbreaking for the royal family.”
However, the parents are reportedly considering sending George to Eton College, the all-boys boarding school where William was a student.