Learning as she goes. Kate Middleton is taking notes from Princess Diana’s parenting book. Royal etiquette expert Myka Meier explained how the Duchess of Cambridge is taking after her mother-in-law when parenting her three kids with Prince William: Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4.
Meier explained to UsWeekly on July 10, 2022 that the similarities between Kate and Diana are extremely telling. “I think what [Kate] probably has learned in a sense is how to keep her calm. For instance, Princess Diana, there [was] so much stress and so much pressure all the time. And I think we’re seeing the Duchess of Cambridge follow that same path of keeping her calm, even if maybe behind closed doors [she] doesn’t feel like that.“ Meier continued, “But [Kate] does an excellent job of not ever letting onto anything but graciousness. I think that’s something she took from Princess Diana’s book, for sure.”
The etiquette expert also expanded on how Kate is also brushing up on her own skills to raise her kids. “It’s actually been said and known that the children are not undergoing actual etiquette training. The Duchess of Cambridge is actually teaching them herself,” Meier said. “So kind of how it works internally is as they’re preparing to go meet somebody or get off an airplane, then really the Duchess has been doing a wonderful job of teaching the children.”
She also said that the children have been learning so well from her, too. “[Kate is] saying, ‘Now we’re going to meet this person. This is what you do. This is how you curtsy.’ And what I love is that it doesn’t seem like there’s any pressure to be something they’re not. These are just beautiful little children and they’re showing respect and doing it in the best way that the Duchess and the Duke [of Cambridge] have known to teach them really.”
With all the etiquette, William and Kate seem to have mixed signals with his brother, Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan Markle and their kids. According to Royal expert Christopher Andersen to Us Weekly on June 9, 2022, the Royal family still has ongoing feuds and did not make any efforts to talk to one another during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. “William and Kate made no effort at all to introduce Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to [Lili],” Anderson noted that there was “a lot of tension” between Prince Harry and Prince William. “As far as I know, nobody believes they spoke [to one another].”
For more about Prince Harry and Prince William’s feud, check out historian Robert Lacey’s 2020 book, Battle of Brothers. In this New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Lacey takes a close look at Harry and William’s relationship throughout the years and considers each moment that led to their eventual estrangement. From the impact of their mother Princess Diana’s tragic death and the pressures of their roles in the royal family (William, the future king vs. Harry, the spare), to the influence their wives Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle have had on their differing paths, Battle of Brothers reveals all the “highs, lows, and discretions” of these brothers’ lives in a way “never offered before.”
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