Princess Kate is skipping Prince William’s Earthshot Prize ceremony in Singapore to be at home with Prince George, 10, who is taking examinations the same week.
George, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five, are all students at Lambrook School. This year marks the first time that all three siblings attend the same school. They were also the first royals to attend a co-ed school.
Caroline Di Russo, host of Sky News Sydney, moderated a panel discussion about all things royal this morning. The three, who were joined by Jenna Clarke and Sophie Elsworth, The Australian editors, took a minute to address Kate’s decision to pursue her own thing.
“Kate isn’t going to accompany William to the Earthshot Awards, so she can stay home with the kids,” Di Russo says to broach the topic. “The commentary has gone into a meltdown, and I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Clarke agrees: “Yeah, it is odd, and I think it’s just another way for the Prince and Princess of Wales to move the family into modern times. Where the former Prince and Princess of Wales would do everything together. Now, William is going over there (Singapore) to talk about the climate, and Kate is staying home to focus on events that mean a lot to her, whether it be children, education, early childhood, and things like that.”
She went on to say of the royal couple’s efforts to effect change, “I think it’s wonderful. They are joint CEOs of The Waleses. It is interesting to see that they’ve moved it into the next frontier. A lot of people are outraged because they don’t get to see Kate in a pretty dress, where she’s just putting in the hard yards and just doing her job.”
Elsworth shared her thoughts on the matter: “I think it’s good that she’s actually doing what’s very important to her and that is spending time with her children and making sure they go to school and helping them in any way she can. I mean, look, she’s very hard to criticize, Caroline! She seems to never put a foot wrong.”
She went one step further, seemingly comparing Kate to her sister-in-law Meghan Markle without calling names: “I like the fact that she decided to put her family first in this instance. She doesn’t need to go everywhere with William. And I think that’s again why she ticks another box with the public.
“She does show her very authentic side and that she does want to be a mother as well. She’s not just going around to events and flying around the world. She’s actually staying home with her children and helping raise them.”
Kate discussed combining work and family life in May, saying: “It’s a constant challenge – you hear it time after time from mums, even mums who aren’t necessarily working and aren’t pulled in the directions of having to juggle work life and family life.”
She added: ”I think it makes such a difference for your child, keeping them as constant and happy as possible.”
