To wonder how the Cambridge children are so beautifully behaved?

[surreysarah]

They sat through the Christmas carol concert so perfectly, and are just so incredibly well behaved when on public outings. They seem delightful and are always so well turned out. As a mum myself, I can’t help wondering - what is Kate and William’s secret? Kudos to the both of them, because they always seem to keep the children in check, but they do it in such a lovely and understated way. They are clearly both naturals with children, because there is no way my unruly brood would be that well behaved at a carol concert. Parenting goals and then some!

And over time their childhood is slowly sucked out of them.and robots of goodness they become

Don't talk such rubbish. You might think children who run riot at public events are cute, but I can assure you other people don't.

You win Mumsnet today

I don't recall them fighting at the funeral, or Camilla telling Kate to move them? Whereabouts was this?

I know of some unruly kids and some who are more well behaved than not, some of it is parent input some they are just naturally well behaved

I don't think there is training or some secret reason they are maybe the camera would not film the older ones if they were playing up badly, or maybe they are just like it?

Or no bribe at all, just an expectation to which you were expected to live, so you did.

Norland nannies tend to rear well behaved children. That's why they are sought after.

I was able to sit through an hour long traditional church service at that age (in the 90s) without bribery, snacks or distractions. So were many of my contemporaries.

Children can sit at their age through concerts. Many parents just hand over a phone / iPad / snacks which they can’t do. I’m sure it’s been reinforced by their nanny, school etc from a young age. Louis is too young to sit through it yet as we know! He’s ace, a normal young child, so they don’t just have perfectly behaved children. Good to see actually that they are not robots.

I thought this and it did make me wonder do the kids get told sometimes like “you mustn’t misbehave because everyone is watching you and filming you and you’ll be on tv”? Because that would be tough for any kid.

2 things.

1. Plenty of children that age have personalities where they will sit for hours though things - my ds did

1. They have a good relationship with the media - necessary even. We won't be shown the footage of them when being little shites (like all kids are!) - the most we ever got was Louis being a typical little 4yo pickle at the jubilee.

And we won't ever see George or Charlotte behaving that way - in the exactly the same way William and Harry were always portrayed differently.

We mainly see the children when they are well behaved. They have their moments, they're normal kids. Their parents were also normal children but as adults they know how to behave appropriately; that characteristic will rub off on their children.

At my child's school there are Christmas and a Easter services and end of year speech day which all children from year 3 upwards attend. I've never seen any poor behaviour at these events. I'm not sure Charlotte and George's behaviour is exceptional.

I guess as well as setting expectations there are also techniques you can teach children for managing boredom.

So you might suggest they count all the different types of gargoyle or see how many carved crowns they can spot, or count the number of times someone sings a set of words they decide on.

Or that if they want to fidget, instead of swinging your legs you'd be better off tapping your finger and thumb together in a pattern etc.

This. You're speaking as though they're a normal family, mum, dad and kids.

No, they will have all sorts of staff on hand to help parent and train the children. In no way are they having a normal upbringing.

Kids aren't stupid and if you start young, it's easy to set different boundaries. They are used to being around formality and seeing their parents perform for the cameras, therefore they know they have to.

None of it is real. Behind closed doors there will be squabbling, tantrums and bickering. That's families for you.

At 7&9 most children know how to behave and have been sensibly sitting through school assemblies for atleast two years though so I don't understand why everyone is so impressed that they behaved at a carol service.
If they can do it at school they can do it at home for their parents unless you've spoiled them rotten and not placed any expectations of good behaviour on them.

Not all kids squabble, bicker, fight or have tantrums or act up

Doesn't make them saints just not all kids act the same way

I’m sure plenty of mums on here have “beautifully behaved” children in public

DS6 is very well behaved at school, rarely embarrassed me in public, however he is a completely different child behind closed doors.

Who says the Cambridge children aren’t? I don’t know of any children that are “beautifully behaved” 24/7

If anyone here has a “beautifully behaved” child, please tell me your secret 🙂

I'm yet to meet siblings who haven't.

They are 9 & 7 and have been trained for this life and the expectations. My 2 were not well behaved at a young age and Dh and I didn't go out much until they were better behaved. Most children this age could sit through a concert.

Perhaps the OP thinking this is unusual says a lot about the children in their area, or their parents.

They are all of school age now, even the youngest one. It's only recently Louis has started appearing at these occasions. Aren't all children of school-age expected to be able to sit still and be quiet? There were certainly assemblies at my infant school that you had to sit in, from the outset when you joined reception aged 4, and that was a bog-standard state primary, albeit many years ago. I'm sure the Cambridges' prep school trains them similarly..

My kids could sit through a church service at that age.. I think people set quite a low bar for behaviour nowadays.

@RunLolaRun102 I think what your thinking of is a new money way of employing nannies and bringing up children, also done by some famlies in the Middle East.

Will and Kate are British old school, they have had the same Norland trained nanny from the start, Im sure they have cover for her, but the childhood they want for their kids is as low key and normal as possible. Eg they take them to school where possible, there has been footage of Will getting angry at paparazzi when they are on a family bike ride, dog walking and lots of family time.

Emphasis on manners will be key, Will has always be really affectionate and publicly loving with the children. I think they are very good parents and strict and loving like many others.

Echoing what others have said… it’s practice

The family goes to church services regularly, their school will have a weekly assembly from reception where they are expected to sit still, and probably a monthly school church service

They are just very used to the expectation of sitting still for the duration of the event, as will be pretty much every single pupil at every prep school which has regular services

The kids are only wheeled out for show the rest of the time the nanny does all the work. They have been trained in how to behave since birth.