The Princess of Wales feels the pressure to ‘get it right’ with Prince George as she balances raising Britain’s future King with giving her 12-year-old a ‘normal’ childhood, a new profile has revealed.
Chief among Catherine’s concerns about Prince George’s upbringing is ensuring that he is never ‘lonely’, The Times’s senior royal writer Kate Mansey wrote.
‘Motherhood is daunting enough, but the stakes are even higher when you’re raising a king,’ the intimate profile read.
Catherine, who will celebrate her 44th birthday on January 9, is going to great lengths to ensure Prince George, as well as his younger siblings – Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven – have a ‘normal’ childhood despite their royal statuses.
This is why she insists on doing the school runs herself, rather than delegating pick-ups and drop-offs to the Waleses’ nanny Maria Borrallo.
Prince George, who is set to begin secondary school this September, is also used to ‘helping on errands’.
One Windsor resident told the newspaper how they bumped into the young prince with Carole Middleton at a fabric shop ‘where he was happily eating orange segments’ while his ‘granny’ picked out samples.
The long read about Britain’s future Queen painted a picture of what Catherine is really like behind closed doors – including a predisposition to misplacing her phone and how her cancer battle has shaped her outlook on life and spirituality.
One of the interviewees was celebrity podcaster Giovanna Fletcher, who hosted Catherine for an episode of her hit show Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2020.
It was during their 90-minute chat that Prince William’s wife – who is a staunch advocate for children’s early years development – revealed she struggles with mum guilt, as Catherine told Ms Fletcher: ‘Yes absolutely – and anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying!’
Ms Fletcher, who is the wife of musician Tom Fletcher, told the newspaper that the princess later joked about how ‘feral’ her three children can be and confessed she has a habit of losing her phone.
‘She told me that she was notoriously bad at keeping an eye on her phone. She always loses her phone. All of her Christmas presents that year were related to her keeping track of her phone… It was all about her not losing her phone.’
Ms Fletcher, who has three children, also shared a sweet behind-the-scenes anecdote about her interview with the princess after she visited a nursery in London’s Stockwell in 2020.
Recalling how they were both ‘nervous’ before their candid interview, Ms Fletcher said Prince William had accompanied Catherine for the recording and helped put her mind at ease.
‘Thankfully, Prince William came into the room and he said, “Just talk.”
‘It wasn’t live, and he reasoned that they could always cut bits later on. His wife took his advice, and the tea grew cold in front of them as a 45-minute chat became a 90-minute, no-holds-barred interview,’ she continued.
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Catherine previously opened up about suffering from mum’s guilt during an interview with celebrity podcaster Giovanna Fletcher during an episode of Happy Mum, Happy Baby in 2020
Ms Fletcher explained the princess was understandably nervous ‘because she knew that she was about to speak in a way that she’d never spoken before’ – including talking about her own pregnancies for the first time.
Then the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine revealed she tried ‘hypnobirthing’ – a form of meditation – to banish fears of childbirth following bouts of ‘rotten’ morning sickness.
She also spoke of her own ‘happy childhood’, adding it was the ‘simple things’ like going for walks with her family that had the biggest impact.
‘I remember that from my childhood, the simple things, like going for a walk together, I try to do this with my children,’ she told Ms Fletcher.
Finally, she reflected on what sort of childhood she would like for Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
She emphasised the ‘quality of relationships’, having a ‘safe’ and ‘happy home’, as well as time spent in the outdoors, as parenting non-negotiables.
Elsewhere in the profile of Catherine, who is in remission from cancer, it was revealed the Waleses remain estranged from the Sussexes – with the paper reporting Prince William is ‘not in contact’ with his younger brother Prince Harry.
Considering Catherine’s cancer diagnosis and recovery, however, they are more focused on raising their family.
‘If Kate has learnt anything from her cancer ordeal… she’ll know that life’s far too short to get hung up on Harry,’ the report read.
It comes after experts revealed how William and Catherine are preparing Prince George for his ‘unique royal role’ after he undertook three high-profile engagements of ‘particular significance’ last year.
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It comes after Prince George made his debut at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall alongside his mother last year
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He is also frequently pictured at football matches with his father, Prince William. They are seen here at the UEFA Champions League final between Spain and England in 2024
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘From the beginning, William and Catherine have prioritised privacy.
‘As George gets older, he is making more appearances at events of particular significance, especially those with links to the armed forces and sport.’
Weeks before his 12th birthday, George accompanied William and Catherine to a Buckingham Palace tea party for World War II veterans to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day this year.
The year 2025 also marked Prince George’s debut at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall alongside his mother and grandfather, King Charles.
As the year drew to a close, William introduced staff at The Passage to George – 32 years after he accompanied his mother, the late Princess Diana, to the same homelessness charity in a full-circle moment.
Reflecting on what has been a significant year for the young boy who will, one day, become King, royal expert Ingrid Seward suggested William might be willing to give George a ‘taste’ of his future life ‘but not the full meal’ yet.
The editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine told The Telegraph: ‘I remember [the Princess of Wales] once saying that they always discuss these appearances with George, that he is never pushed.
‘William is doing what he can to get him to look at the world in a certain way, but you can see how good George was with those old soldiers – he wants to do all these things. And William is happy for him to have a taste of it, but not the full meal.’
And with George set to begin secondary school next September, ‘the kindest thing’ his parents can do is ‘let him be a teenager’, according to Christopher Wilson.
There is enough time for George to grow into his ‘unique role’.
