Prince George: The Future King in the Making
Prince George of Wales, born July 22, 2013, is second in line to the British throne after his father, Prince William. As the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, George Alexander Louis has captured public attention since birth, representing the future of the British monarchy.
Now 11 years old, Prince George attends Lambrook School in Berkshire, along with his younger siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. He’s known to enjoy sports, particularly football and tennis, and is reportedly a fan of Aston Villa like his dad. Though he lives a largely private life, George occasionally joins royal events, showing glimpses of his growing confidence.
George made headlines during the Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and again at King Charles III’s coronation in 2023, where he served as a Page of Honour. These appearances are part of a slow, careful introduction to royal duties.
Unlike previous generations, George is being raised with a blend of tradition and modern parenting. Prince William and Princess Catherine are committed to giving him as normal a childhood as possible while preparing him for the responsibilities ahead.
As Prince George grows up, the world watches a young boy quietly preparing for an extraordinary future.
While royal children have traditionally been raised in environments that would make most of us feel like we’ve stumbled into an episode of The Crown, Prince George has experienced what Prince William might call a childhood that’s royal “with a smaller r.” George, 11, and his family live in a relatively modest four-bedroom home on the Windsor Castle estate, and Prince William and Princess Kate have made deliberate choices to give their children a life that resembles normalcy as much as possible. That being said, one day Prince George will make history by becoming the first King to come from a non-aristocratic mother.
Plenty of past and future monarchs have been born to non-royal moms (Prince William, for example), but Princess Diana wasn’t a true commoner as she came from a highly aristocratic family, the Spencers. Kate Middleton, however, grew up in a middle-class household, making her the first commoner mother of a future King.
Her background was actually a source of contention when Kate was dating Prince William, and his friends are said to have poked fun at her for having a mother who used to be a British Airways flight attendant. (Who’s having the last laugh now?)
Prince George is seen with the Princess of Wales at the 2022 Together at Christmas concert.
From attending school close to home to taking family beach walks with their dog, George’s upbringing has been markedly different from the stiff-upper-lip childhoods of King Charles and his siblings.
Even Princess Diana—who tried her best to give Prince Harry and Prince William experiences beyond palace walls—wasn’t able to achieve the same type of freedom with her kids that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis currently enjoy in Windsor.
According to one royal expert in the recent Channel 5 documentary Prince George: How To Make a Monarch, the Princess of Wales brings a unique perspective to royal parenting since she grew up in a more “normal” family.
India McTaggart, a royal correspondent for the Telegraph, said (via the Mirror) the Princes of Wales has “brought so much from her Middleton upbringing and her family values, that I think has completely informed the way that she is raising the next generation of royals.”
