Being a member of the Royal Family may come with palaces and titles, but it's not always an easy ride. Growing up with the scrutiny and responsibility that comes with the lineage can be challenging, but it’s a whole other story if you marry in from ‘regular’ life, as The Princess of Wales has. Kate, however, has taken her royal transformation in her stride, and has quickly become one of the most regularly working - and best-loved - senior royals, as she prepares to eventually become Queen.
With a change of monarch only recently taking place, it may well be some years before the Prince and Princess of Wales take the throne, but that doesn’t mean that plans aren’t already being put in place. Even in their positions as Prince and Princess, the ‘modern royal’ couple have set some precedents which are likely to continue into their reign.
One method is their activism. Both Prince William and Kate have put their names behind a number of organisations, as is tradition with working Royal Family members. However, they have taken this further by supporting wider causes, and even launching initiatives of their own. One of the most notable shows of support from the couple, according to royal expert of The Crown Chronicles, Victoria Howard, was a cover interview Prince William did in 2016.
‘Prince William did an Attitude magazine interview to show his support for the LGBTQ plus community. That's a really big deal for a royal, a senior royal, at that point as well. [He] said no one should be bullied for being who they are,’ she says. ‘To show that he was willing and happy to put his face to such a cause, I think is very significant and shows the shifting attitudes within the palace.’
The environment has also been a cause Prince William has thrown his weight behind, prompting him to launch his environmental award, The Earthshot Prize. Meanwhile, The Princess of Wales has turned her attention to childhood development, creating the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. The centre researches and raises awareness around the importance of the first years of children’s lives.
'I think [the foundation] is a really great example of how Catherine saw there was a problem and wanted to do something about it,' says Victoria. 'She's built that from the ground up. Rather than putting her name to existing causes, she started a whole movement herself.'
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Another thing the couple are known for, is trying to establish as ‘normal’ a life as possible for their young family. This includes having minimum staff members and living in a house separated from The King and Queen. For example, according to former royal butler Grant Harrold, they insist on doing their children's school run, rather than having them driven in by a member of their team.
‘It’s an important part of their children’s daily routine and they want to do it themselves,' says Grant, on behalf of Select Car Leasing. 'I also don’t think William wants the world to see his children being driven to school by a chauffeur, it’s not the image of the monarch he’s trying to project.'
He adds that, 'both William and Kate like doing things for themselves.' While becoming King and Queen will mean an adjustment, the children are likely to be older by this time, and Victoria believes they’ll still have a degree of ‘normality’.
‘I think royal children growing up nowadays have a lot more scope to decide their own path,' says Victoria, who predicts Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will all attend university. As is traditional in the Royal Family, Victoria believes Prince George and perhaps also Prince Louis will also serve in the military.
While Prince George has added responsibilities being prepared to be King one day, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte may be afforded more freedom. ‘We know that Charlotte's doing ballet lessons at the moment. For example, if she wanted to try and have a career in dance then they would try and facilitate that for her,' says Victoria.
The key precedent the Prince and Princess of Wales are setting and are likely to continue into their ‘modern’ reign as much as possible is to ‘have some sense of normality,’ for their family, she adds.
