There is no royal training manual tucked away among the 240,000 items in the Windsor Castle library on north side of the Upper Ward. Never has been, never will be.
“I learned the way a monkey learns,” King Charles once said. “By watching its parents.” Now it is his grandson Prince George’s turn.
The only difference is that his mother and father, Catherine and William, are leaving nothing to chance.
At twelve, Prince George has already shown he has the skill set to cope with public life and the innate ability to think on his feet. At Sandringham on Christmas Day, he coped admirably when a stranger in the crowd outside the church brought up a tricky subject, “Granny Diana”. He smiled. He didn’t flinch.
In the same walkabout, Princess Charlotte crossed independently to embrace a woman in a wheelchair. Louis, less distracted, managed half an hour of handshakes, not bad focus for a seven-year-old.
Eye contact, firm handshakes and politeness
This is no accident. Catherine, who came to public life as an adult, has been a stickler for preparing her children for public life.
Preparation is a mantra she has lived by. Her parents Mike and Carole Middleton taught her that. At university her father would send her newspaper clippings he thought useful. She would devour them in the St. Sallies common room.
Preparedness and politeness matter to her; something she has drummed into her own children. When adults visit their home, the children often greet them. They’ve learned that firm handshakes matter, so does eye contact. Basics, but so important for their future roles. Thank you notes are another exercise they complete as a matter of course.
“Preparedness and politeness matter to Catherine; something she has drummed into her own children”
Learning the royal ropes
The late Queen Elizabeth was suddenly called upon to discharge duties as monarch; something she hadn’t been trained in. She grew into her role, leaning on Churchill at the start. Experience alone saw her through.
The one solid piece of advice George VI passed to her was to remember that when people met her, they would remember it for the rest of their lives. It stayed with her.
“I’m learning from watching her,” Prince William said in 2016. By 2023, his thinking evolved a little: “You don’t just get thrown into it. You build it up.” Princess Anne, his no-nonsense aunt, was blunter. “You learn by turning up. And doing it again. And again. You pick it up. Or you don’t.”
Her practical approach heavily influenced William and Catherine’s thinking about preparing the next generation. Gradually introducing them, particularly George, to the world he will one day need to embrace for the institution he is born to lead.
The late Philip viewed royal learning almost militarily. “You get on with it. That’s how you learn.” Not one for over-analysis.
Kate’s coping mechanism
Catherine absorbed it all when she arrived on the scene. She had to cope with paparazzi, gossip columnists. Then when she had to face the public, she had to develop a coping mechanism.
Over time she grew in confidence. Her public speaking improved. Now she always prepares, always brings her “A game” to the table, as one insider said.
She has impressed this upon her children, not in an overbearing way, but steadily when it is needed.