Prince George’s Heir Status Doesn’t Make a Big ‘Difference’ to Wales ‘Family Life’
There’s one place Prince George can be “treated absolutely equally” to his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. It’s not Buckingham Palace or even official appearances but at home, according to an expert.
The ‘domestic arena’ is where George is ‘treated absolutely equally’ despite heir status
“I think that in any family, you treat your kids much the same,” Jennie Bond, a royal expert, told OK! Magazine. “Generally, the youngest gets a bit more favor to the eldest, who generally has to get on with it.”
“Just because George is going to be King at a much, much later date,” the former BBC royal correspondent said, “I don’t think that will make any difference at all to the dynamics of family life.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton “would allow their children to just be kids and let them fool around over the breakfast table or dance around the kitchen. So I think in the domestic arena, they would be treated absolutely equally.”
As for when George gets different treatment, Bond said the “situation” has likely come up. For that reason, it’s likely the Prince and Princess of Wales have undoubtedly discussed this with their children.
“There is the slightly different situation that they will have had to explain to Charlotte and Louis,” Bond said. It’s “that George does go first, George walks in front, George has a bigger role at the Coronation, and George does this that you don’t do. So I suppose they will gently have explained it.”
Heir George has a ‘better and more modern’ upbringing at Adelaide Cottage
When George isn’t carrying out official roles at royal family events, he can retreat to the confines of Adelaide Cottage. The Wales family home since William and Kate relocated in 2022 from London, England, the Windsor, England, property is cozier than Kensington Palace.
Adelaide Cottage has four bedrooms and unlike previous homes, the kids’ longtime nanny, Maria Borrallo, doesn’t live under the same roof. Where George is raised, coupled with William and Kate’s more casual air, creates a “modern” childhood.
“George is luckier because William and Catherine are far less formal and more natural around people,” Bond said. “I think it’s also much better and more modern to bring up George in a house that isn’t too vast, on the Windsor estate. “
In spite of it all, George does have “a lot on his plate,” Bond continued. “Coming to terms with the role that lies ahead, and the fact that he is, by accident of birth, different to every other child his age. I think he needs his parents close by to talk things through, which I’m sure they do.”
George is a ‘much more rounded’ boy than King Charles was at his age
“Doing things differently” has proved beneficial for George and the royal family by extension. Take, for instance, George’s education. Currently, he attends Lambrook School in Windsor, England, nearby the family’s Adelaide Cottage home and Windsor Castle.
Also enrolled there are Charlotte and Louis, which marks the first time all three siblings have gone to the same school.
“Although Kate and William will probably send him to boarding school in the future, I suppose that won’t be for another three years,” Bond said of George, who was spotted at Eton College in June 2023 alongside his parents.
“So I think that’s the benefit of learning from the mistakes of the past and doing things differently,” she added. “As a result, I think George is a much more rounded, happier boy than [King] Charles likely was.”
