Comment
ULRIKA JONSSON
Parents are breeding a nation of spoilt brats with no attention span – they could learn from George and Charlotte
IT’S in no one’s interests to steal the show at a funeral. It’s neither the time, nor the place.
But my golly, if there was an award for outstanding performances, it must surely go to Prince George and Princess Charlotte — aged nine and seven respectively — for their impeccable behaviour.
6
6
6
You could say there were adults in the congregation who displayed less upright conduct and demeanour than these two young, impressive creatures.
I won’t be the only parent who was astounded by their ability to melt into the crowd of mourners at the Queen’s funeral, without attracting the wrong kind of attention.
Taking into account their ages, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there would be fidgeting and eye rolls; chatting and attention-seeking.
But not a sound. Not as much as a hand misplaced, a grimace or a look of boredom.
READ MORE ON THE QUEEN'S DEATH
They looked calm, sombre and dignified — even when observing other members of the Royal Family. Such as when Princess Charlotte looked kindly on at her Uncle Harry or took her cue from her Aunty Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
I’ve written before about my intense dislike of the way young children of today are so over-stimulated and are required to be kept constantly entertained.
It’s breeding a nation of spoiled brats whose every whim has to be catered for. Kids are no longer expected to just be bored or to entertain themselves.
Parents seem to fear heir children’s petulant behaviour and pander to their every desire. Not their needs. Their desires.
Most read in The Sun
The behaviour of the child more often than not comes down to the parenting. And before you ask, no, I didn’t get it all right. One thing I did get right, I believe, is to make my children understand that the world did not revolve around them at all times.
There would be times when they would be required to sit quietly, put their needs and demands on the back-burner and behave decently — without bribes or empty promises made in moments of exasperation and desperation.
And this is where Kate and William have clearly done a brilliant job. Granted, they live a life unlike any other citizen of this country but to that end, they’ve needed their children to behave accordingly.
And they have done so in concert with their Norland nanny Maria Borrallo, who looks after their three children.
6
6
6
Emotion coaching
Norland nannies are a breed all of their own. My daughter Bo is a newly qualified one, so I’ve been privy to all the hard training and the wide variety of courses and instruction she has had to undertake these past few years at Norland College in Bath.
They are the crème de la crème of nannies who enrol in a four-year course ending in a degree and a diploma centred on shaping the very best and most superior childcare anywhere in the world.
Many go on to work for high-profile wealthy families, because a Norland nanny does not come cheap.
They are trained in everything from etiquette and making sea bass and quinoa for Little Lord Fauntleroy to self-defence and how to drive a car under duress if they are being followed by unwanted strangers — all to protect their family’s most cherished belonging.
While the Waleses may have a Norland nanny, the shaping of the children comes fundamentally from the parents. How the parents want their children shaped is at the heart of their nannying principles. It is very much a co-production between parents and child-carer.
Norland nannies teach “emotion coaching” which enables the child to talk through difficult emotions or events, and instructs them to find different ways of dealing with them.
I would bet my bottom dollar a lot of that went on in the run-up to the funeral – teaching the children how to process their emotions, their feelings of being overwhelmed with the world’s eyes on them, or their inevitable sad sentiments at the loss of their great grandmother.
There were some stunning moments during the funeral that showed the world just how these two siblings have been brought up. Like when Princess Charlotte tucked her dress underneath her as she climbed into the car after the service.
Glorious moment
Had that been my kids, there would have been a bun fight to get into the car and a squabble about who sits where. There would have been screaming tantrums, albeit without the tiaras.
And all the while, I would have spent the entire service bargaining, bartering, negotiating and, yes, bribing my little swines to be kind and quiet, to sit still, not make a fuss and not pick their noses or yawn in boredom.
I would have resorted to empty threats of devices being made unavailable if they misbehaved because, children: “Actions have consequences”.
And then as soon as we got home, I would have handed them their devices and screens because I would have been exhausted by the whole disastrous affair.
Because that’s life. Life gets busy and we choose the path of least resistance when it comes to bringing up our children. The electronic babysitter is our drug of choice.
Then there was that glorious, intimate moment when Princess Charlotte felt compelled to remind her older brother, Prince George that he was obliged to bow as the coffin passed.
It was a charming screenshot of two siblings working in unison, supporting each other and wanting to look and do their very best. Or, it was, quite simply, Princess Charlotte basically being a Boss Girl, not unlike her late, beloved “Gan Gan”. She’s showing all the signs of great maturity at the tender age of seven.
Which is presumably why Prince Louis wasn’t asked to attend. His brilliant, natural, forgivable immaturity at the Jubilee celebrations, poking his mother and blowing raspberries in her face would doubtless have brought the house down.
He might have brought humour but on Monday the world needed solemnity and a form of democratic obscurity – where all guests were present and blended in.
Full credit, too, though to all the other older children like Prince Edward’s youngsters, Lady Louise, 18, and Viscount Severn, James, 14, who stood vigil at the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall on Saturday night so patiently and so unassumingly.
Not only must it have been incredibly emotional for them – and containing emotions publicly is surely one of the greatest tests for any child — but it must have been draining and exhausting.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
Many will see the Royals and their children as immensely privileged, but they are also required to endure, encounter and experience many things our own children are not.
All of them did so with such dignity. Something the rest of us parents could do with invoking in our children. If only just a little bit.
Topics