If anyone wanted a window into the Waleses’ world, yesterday’s remarkable ‘mini movie‘ was it.
It was conspicuous that there was not a phone or a tablet in sight. Ruddy-cheeked, clear-eyed and bare-legged, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and little Prince Louis scrambled around in the forests, fields and beaches near their Norfolk home, playing cricket, climbing trees and competitively challenging their parents to card games.
Some cynics were quick to scoff that this bucolic and decidedly wholesome slice of family life appeared contrived – but in that they would be wrong.
What you see is pretty much what you get with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and as parents William and Kate really do practise what they preach, friends stress.
The lack of ‘tech’, the outdoors lifestyle and their love of nature are part and parcel of their daily lives.
While Adelaide Cottage, their relatively cosy (by royal standards) four-bedroom property on the Windsor estate is the family’s term-time home, there’s no doubt that Anmer Hall, the Waleses’ far grander country abode at Sandringham, where the family were captured by filmmaker Will Warr, is their sanctuary.
Often I’ve been told they would have loved to live there full-time, if they could. The minute the family can escape up to Norfolk they do, and the youngsters are encouraged to spend as much time out in the fresh air as they can, playing in the garden, climbing trees, swimming, sailing or, when wet, inside enjoying arts and crafts – and, as we now know, playing cards.
Indeed, it’s illuminating to see the family sharing not one but two games in their three-minute video message.
Some cynics were quick to scoff that this bucolic and decidedly wholesome slice of family life appeared contrived, but they are wrong, writes Rebecca English
It’s illuminating to see the family playing games in their three-minute video message
One of the most striking aspects of the video, however, has to be the affection shown between the couple, who are not known for their public displays
In the first we catch a rare glimpse inside Anmer – posh country but cosy, with plates hanging from the walls and crockery crowded inside white distressed display cabinets – with family photos, ornaments and baskets higgledy-piggledy on the sideboard.
Sitting around the table are the couple and their children, along with Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, playing a game of Spoons.
Players pass round cards until they collect four of a kind and quickly grab a utensil in the middle of the table. If you are the one left out you get a letter – spell ‘spoon’ and you’re out. Instead of cutlery, however, the Waleses are playing with used Nespresso coffee pods. Most definitely not the kind you find on the tea table at Buckingham Palace.
William and Kate can also be seen sitting on a tartan picnic blanket using a set of Battle of Britain-themed playing cards, almost certainly a sweet nod to her late grandfather, Peter Middleton, a Second World War RAF hero. At one point the prince uses a card to flick a caterpillar out of his daughter’s hair, suggesting he is also the kind of dad who has learnt how to do a fast pony tail or plait in the morning.
One of the most striking aspects of the video, however, has to be the affection shown between the couple, who are not known for their public displays.
The children’s public appearances are made on William and Kate’s terms only, largely unannounced in advance, if and when the children feel comfortable
It’s thanks to the Waleses’ relaxed, middle-class normality that we see three such gloriously unaffected and unstilted royal children today
In the video, we catch a rare glimpse inside Anmer – posh country but cosy, with plates hanging from the walls and crockery crowded inside white distressed display cabinets
I’ve heard it’s a sign of how cancer has redefined their relationship with each other, and what they feel comfortable sharing as a couple. Like anyone going through such a life altering-experience at a relatively young age, William and Kate simply care less what people think and are doubling down on what matters to them.
Several years ago I wrote how the princess has something of the ‘steel marshmallow’ about her, the nickname given to the late Queen Mother, soft and squishy on the outside but with a rod of iron down her back. Kate has put that inner steel to good use, particularly over the last incredibly challenging nine months, but also from the start of her journey into royal life, ring-fencing her marriage, family and children.
She has always been determined her children will grow up unencumbered by the predetermined roles to which they were born as much as possible, something William has supported her in fiercely.
Public appearances of the youngsters are made on their terms only, largely unannounced in advance, if and when the children feel comfortable.
Indeed, where possible, at least one of the parents drops off the children at school each day, and both are frequently in attendance together on the sidelines at football and cricket matches, or cheering the ‘kiddies’ on in the pool or in dance recitals.
It’s thanks to this relaxed, middle-class normality that we see three such gloriously unaffected and unstilted royal children today.
And parents who are happy to offer an unprecedented glimpse into the private world they have always protected so fiercely in order, as the princess herself said, to let the light that has emerged from the darkest of times ‘shine bright’ in the hope that it helps others on their own devastating and frightening cancer journeys.