The Prince and Princess of Wales’s eldest son, Prince George, is being gently introduced to his future role as King — and it appears his eagerness to help has been encouraged from a very young age.
According to a profile of Princess Kate published by The Times ahead of her 44th birthday on Friday, the 12-year-old prince is already accustomed to running small errands.
During an engagement last September marking the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, William and Kate met members of a local Women’s Institute group in Sunningdale, Ascot.
One member, Sally Pellow, 64, shared how she had once served Kate at a French Connection store in Reading. She also recalled a chance encounter from around five years ago, when she ran into a young Prince George at an interior design shop in the area.
Recalling the moment, Mrs Pellow said: “I’d popped in to collect some wallpaper samples and Prince George came in with his granny, Carole Middleton. He was beautifully dressed and sitting at a desk, nibbling on pieces of orange.”
Members of the WI group also remarked on George’s sensible behaviour in public. William later joked that while his eldest son knows how to conduct himself when out and about, “behind closed doors, it’s a completely different ball game.”
Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are hands-on grandparents and have frequently helped with childcare alongside the children’s nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo. This was especially the case when George, Charlotte, and Louis were younger, during periods when the Prince and Princess of Wales were travelling overseas for royal tours.
The Wales children delighted crowds in Sandringham on Christmas Day, stepping forward to shake hands and pose for photos with warm smiles.
One onlooker told HELLO! in this week’s issue: “He showed a quiet confidence and maturity. It’s hard to believe he’ll be a teenager by the next time he does this.”
In the run-up to Christmas, George also made a meaningful public appearance when he helped prepare Christmas lunch at The Passage homelessness shelter — a charity that holds special significance for his father, William.
Then, in November, George joined his mother, Kate, at the Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where he watched moving tributes and video messages from veterans reflecting on their experiences and honouring fallen friends and comrades.
The young Prince also attendеd a tea party for veterans at Buckingham Pаlace during the VE Day 80 commemorations in May, whеre he expressed interest in learning аbout those who served in the war.
After that first major оuting in May, royal author Sally Bedell Smith tоld HELLO!: “I think we’ll see more of these kinds of encountеrs,” as she pointed to the fact that the yоung Princess Elizabeth was only 14 when she gave her first radiо address – albeit in 1940, while the cоuntry was at war.
“It’s still еarly for George to be doing more but he’s being exposed to public lifе in a pretty intelligent way. They sеem to be doing it all very thoughtfully,” she said of William and Kate.
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