He may only be eight years old, but Prince George already knows there’s something special about him that sets him apart from his siblings and other children his age.
WATCH: Unseen footage shots sweet moment between Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince George
According to royal historian and author Robert Lacey, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat their eldest son down a year or so ago and told him that he will one day become king of England, following, as ruler, in the footsteps of his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, grandfather Prince Charles, and father.
“Maybe one day George will tell us the story himself,” Robert writes in his book Battle of Brothers.
“But sometime around the boy’s seventh birthday in the [northern] summer of 2020 it is thought that his parents went into more detail about what the little prince’s life of future royal ‘service and duty’ would particularly involve.”
A stable home
While there’s no doubt the prince, who loves to play tennis and is learning the guitar, is still too young to fully understand the important future ahead of him, royal experts say Prince William, in particular, is determined to ensure George can lead as normal a life as possible while he’s still young.
“Above all, William wants him, along with Charlotte and Louis, to have a happy and stable family life, unblighted by divorce, which his own was,” royal author Phil Dampier explains.
“He will want to give George and his other children the love and affection which was lacking in his upbringing.
“That is why they spend so much time at their home in Norfolk where George went to a local nursery school, goes to the beach and the woods, sometimes with his grandmother Carole Middleton, and plays with the local kids.”
When the time is right
In his book William & Catherine: Their Lives, Their Wedding, royal biographer Andrew Morton revealed that a young Prince William found out from the other children in his class that he would one day rule the country!
“Before William attended school, he genuinely had no idea that he was any different from anyone else,” Andrew wrote.
“His innocence of his position was soon ended by fellow pupils, who left him in no doubt who he was.
“On one occasion a classmate reportedly asked him, ‘Don’t you know the Queen?’ William looked at him and replied: ‘Don’t you mean Granny?’ ”
In George’s case, Phil says that William and Kate have come to a joint agreement that they will explain to him the extraordinary circumstances he’s been born into in greater detail when the time is right.
“Prince Charles once said that it was a massive shock when it first dawned on him that he was destined to be king, and I’m sure it was the same for William,” Phil adds.
“William knows how it feels and so will have the answers ready and will gently explain it all to George when the time comes. The art will be to not put him under too much pressure, while realising that long-term he has little choice in his destiny.
“It won’t be an easy talk but I think William and Kate are making sure he has a happy childhood to give him a firm foundation to cope with the rest of his life.”
King in the making
In 2018, Catherine Mayer, who wrote Charles: The Heart of a King three years earlier, revealed that the Cambridges intend to protect George for as long as they can from feeling the huge responsibility that his future holds.
“With George, they are trying to delay that moment of realisation and give him normality before they thrust this on him,” Catherine said.
“But it will be, nevertheless, part of his upbringing, both in terms of what he sees his parents and grandparents doing.”
Speaking to the BBC in 2016, William made clear that he was in no hurry to clue George into his royal bloodline and what it signifies.
“There’ll be a time and a place to bring George up [to speed] and understand how he fits in, in the world,” he said.
“But right now it’s just a case of keeping a secure, stable environment around him and showing as much love as I can as a father.”
And that’s exactly what the Duke of Cambridge has been doing, lavishing love and doting on his little prince.
Royal role model
Back in July, royal fans were treated to not one but two rare appearances by the third-in-line to the throne as he went to the Euro 2020 football tournament with his parents.
In a navy blazer and tie just like his dad, adorable footage showed the soccer-loving lad joyfully cheering on the English team in their showdown with Italy in the final.
“It was wonderful to see Prince William and George bonding over the big games for England,” author Phil says.
“William is a huge football fan and always wanted George to follow the sport, which is not a traditional favourite of the royals.
“William believes soccer is the sport of the masses and brings people together, so he would want George to get involved at an early age.”
Georgina Durrant, author of the book 100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play, told the Mirror it was evident that Prince George absolutely adores his father.
“It was lovely to watch Prince George’s love for his parents when he was mirroring his dad clapping and cheering… and when he rushed to his mum’s open arms for a cuddle.
When children mirror their parents’ actions it’s often because they have such love for them, think of them extremely highly and see them as their role model,” she said.
Preparing for public life
Meanwhile, Sunday Times royal correspondent Roya Nikkhah’s take on the Cambridges’ decision to have George at the matches was that it was their way of easing him into life of public service, one step at a time.
“This is an official duty for Prince George at the age of seven,” she said.
“Getting him used to big crowds and knowing that he is being watched by millions of people – it’s quite a clever way of doing it.”
While that was a successful foray into royal life, William and Kate are conscious of not thrusting George into the spotlight too soon.
Speaking to GQ magazine back in 2017, William said he’d do whatever it took to ensure George didn’t feel the pressure that comes with living behind palace walls.
“Stability at home is so important to me. I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world and that is so important to both of us as parents,” he said.
“I want George to grow up in a real, living environment. I don’t want him growing up behind palace walls, he has to be out there… I will fight for them to have a normal life.”
So much so that there have been reports William doesn’t want his son to go to boarding school like he did at his age.
“It’s my understanding for some time, possibly even before George was even born, was that William was quite keen that any child he had wouldn’t be packed off to boarding school,” royal expert Duncan Larcombe told OK! magazine.
“He’s never intended to have his kids as full-time boarders and if George does go to a school that offers it, he’ll likely be a day boarder.”
