Still,after her grandmother-in-law’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations (#plattyjubes) over the weekend,I have revised my position. Footage went viral of Kate’s youngest child,Prince Louis,acting out,and I felt profound empathy. As the headlines screamed,“Kate cannot control her children!“,I remembered the days I could not control mine.
Problem child? Prince Louis puts on a performance for mother Kate Middleton at the Queen’s Platinum Pageant.Getty Images
As the young prince sat through an interminable pageant,he pulled faces,stuck out his tongue,waggled his fingers at his mum in the pre-school equivalent of the middle finger,and put his hand across her mouth when she tried to discipline him. This was not princely behaviour! The internet had a field day.
“This is blatant disrespect,” tweeted one person about a four-year-old child. “Maybe it’s a cry for help,” tweeted another,also about a four-year-old child
“He’s not getting any discipline at home,” wrote another,still about a FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHILD.
Now,there are two types of people who judge others for their parenting:the child-free person who is quite sure their future hypothetical kids wouldnever do whatever this actual human child is doing,and the lucky parent whose child responds beautifully to whatever discipline/parenting regime/wooden spoon they are dishing out.
You know who doesn’t judge others for their parenting? Those of us who know how hard it is.
I have three kids,one of whom never needed discipline at all,one of whom was easy to manage,and one of whom was damn nigh impossible. I read the books,I listened to the podcasts,I consulted the experts,and still that kid had tantrums in public and said inappropriate things to strangers. (“Hello,fat old lady!”)
We wouldn’t have fared well at a #plattyjubes pageant. A supermarket visit often ended in tears.
Some young kids are naturally challenging or neurodiverse,and at four years of age,they are not capable of reason. Short of beating them with a stick,you can’t always bring them into line. You hang in there,you teach them,you love them,and you play the long game. Parenting is a marathon,not a sprint,and you can’t determine the outcome from the first few metres.
After stealing the show with his facial expressions during Trooping the Colour on Thursday,Prince Louis was back at it again at the People's Pageant.
Like Kate,I copped enormous judgment for my kid’s behaviour. But that kid is now a magnificent adult. Chances are,Louis will be too. Kate,I stand in solidarity with you.
And pageants are boring as hell.
The Duchess of Cambridge humours Prince Louis during the Queen’s Platinum Pageant.Getty Images
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