Would you allow strangers to hug your children

[readingisallowed]

I saw the royal family walking in Sandringham on Christmas day and the number of strangers hugging George, Charlotte and Louis. Why are William and Catherine thinking that this is ok.

No, and they don’t have any kind of handheld metal detection devices either which again I find strange.
Security would be all over them immediately, but if they’ve hurt the kids, it’s too late

Google tells me there are security measures & searches. They seem to recognise some of the people (after all there can’t be that many who would want to do this). I don’t believe they would put the dc at risk although why they bother with the charade of handing over chocs etc that won’t be consumed I don’t know.

I probably wouldn't let my child be hugged by strangers, no. But neither would I allow my child to be told what job they were going to do, where they were going to live, how they were going to act and dress and behave - how, in short, they were going to spend their entire lives. But apparently that's perfectly acceptable, so I don't think I can get too het up about the hugging.

Using their children as part of their PR machine - yes it's distasteful but the public and the press collude in it!

Don’t get me started on the members of public who were giving these incredibly privileged children gifts and sweets.
Donate them to a fucking food bank, you weirdos!

No I wouldn’t. William thinks it is ok because he has done it his whole life. He probably thinks this is representative of “the general public “ and doesn’t grasp that this is just a subset of oddballs and weirdos.

I think it is far more weird that random adults want to hug the children in the first place.

They don't know them, they aren't connected to them beyond recognised faces on the media, they are physically kept behind a rope to keep them separated, yet they still feel the urge to repeatedly yell out their names and want to closely embrace them?

You might also ask if people would take their children to work with them knowing they will be engaging with a load of strangers and require security.

It’s the Windsor Show not real life.

Donate them to a fucking food bank, you weirdos!

Perhaps someone should take this placard next year 😆

Send me your size and I’ll get us some t-shirts printed up 🤣

I didn't see the hugs but saw people asking for selfies with them which I think is totally inappropriate and out of order putting the children in that position.

The people at Sandringham on Christmas day are a carefully hand-picked and vetted group (who clearly have nothing better to do on Christmas day).

@JMSA 😆

No one is going to feel up a Royal on walkabout,they are surrounded by body guards.

Not the point but I always wondered about celebs that hug their fans, I'd be so worried about catching headlice!

How are they handpicked? I’m not sure it is possible to do a background security check on them.

People who work/volunteer for local organisations which are pre-vetted.
People who are on the DBs update service.
Certain locals.

It depends on the situation but if I were the royal children’s parents I wouldn’t want random strangers hugging them no - I’m actually really surprised this was allowed.

If I was paid the money Will and Kate are having kids' bodyguards then fine with me. The kids won't be harmed in any way and they never need to work a day.

This isn’t even the reason I’d not want them hugging strangers - it’s more the fact that it’s a very unfair thing to ask children to do and also from a hygiene perspective.

I don’t like hugging people I don’t know well so why would I expect my children to? It’s just totally unnecessary.

I think it’s weird. I get that the people in the crowd love it but I can’t see any benefit for the kids. It reminds me of my nan who always wanted a kiss on the lips. Cheek was never good enough. I loved her in every other way but I hated being made to do that.
It’s pretty standard nowadays to teach children that they have autonomy over their own bodies. But not the royal children apparently. I think it’s weirdly inconsistent.

@DollybantreeHygiene wise, what do you actually think will happen?

In other news Kids should choose if they want to hug someone.

I’d mostly be concerned that they might smell tbh. But then there’s coughs, colds, viruses, headlice, scabies - I could go on! Im
not a germaphobe but I don’t want to hug random people in flu season! I wouldn’t want to force any child to be that close to another person - especially one they don’t know and will never meet again.

Meant to also say - this is all about the wants of the adults and not of the children.

There’s no way those kids were happy to do this, they’ve been told it’s their duty. It’s wrong.

This wouldnt of been an issue ten years ago… the worlds gone mad now and folk are scared….but top marks to the royals for giving the children the freedom to show love and care…and be normal and relaxed as far as possible, to be loving and tactile is so important..this would be a normal thing in the north east of england , not so much in the south. Well done the royals ♥️