When Kate Middleton and Prince William aren’t out visiting laboratories and showing compassion for families who have experienced tragedy, they’re usually at home being hands-on parents to their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Before the pandemic, they enjoyed taking their kids to school in the morning, and since lockdown began, they’ve been helping out with distance learning. According to the Sun, they also have some strong opinions about how kids should be disciplined. They’re also not fans of the “naughty step,” the term for what American call “time out,” popularized by British nanny Jo Frost of the show Supernanny. Instead, they take a less punitive approach.
“There’s no ‘naughty step’ but there is a ‘chat sofa,’” a source told the newspaper. “The naughty child is taken away from the scene of the row or disruption and talked to calmly by either Kate or William. Things are explained and consequences outlined and they never shout at them.”
Kate is passionate about early childhood education, and avoiding the word “naughty” reflects the current research about how kids learn. Ultimately, it makes sense that Kate and William never yell at their children, if only because it is difficult to imagine either of them yelling at anyone.
According to the source, the couple works well with Maria Borrallo, the nanny who has been with the family for years and even stayed on for quarantine. “Maria is firm but she never acts unilaterally with the children on discipline,” the source said. “Kate and William, along with Maria, are strict with the children but have this magic ability to appear not to be. It is a military operation but you would never guess it because they work ferociously hard on their children’s upbringing and making it seem relaxed and happy for the three of them.”
When the Cambridge children are out in public, they’re reportedly very well-behaved, so it seems like their method is working. But judging from Louis’s love for finger paints and the scene-stealing moment when Charlotte blew a razzie at a boat race last year, Kate and William have managed to raise kids who are disciplined, but still kids.
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