Kate Middleton has 'different' role to Prince William as they prepare Prince George to be King

The Prince and Princess of Wales are both hands-on parents to their three children, sharing school pick up and drop off duties and cheering them on at sports matches. They’re determined to strike a good balance between giving Prince George, Charlotte and Louis an "ordinary" childhood and introducing them to life in the Royal Family.

This is no doubt challenging at times but it’s now been suggested that Kate’s role in future King Prince George’s life is "different" to Prince William’s. Opening up to Us Weekly, royal historian Marlene Koenig expressed her belief that Kate’s main priority is being a loving mum.

"She is there to be the loving, supportive mum in everything George does, because he is her son first and foremost," she claimed, before revealing a crucial difference between her and William.

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Marlene continued, "She will never have a constitutional role, except as regent in a worst-case scenario, if George becomes King before age 18."

Twelve-year-old Prince George is currently second in the royal line of succession and in Marlene’s opinion, it will be his father Prince William and grandfather King Charles who will take a major part in preparing the young Prince. They have the benefit of experience and will reportedly give him the "knowledge and practice of their roles".

Although the Princess of Wales is a senior member of the Royal Family herself and is set to become Queen Consort one day, she wasn’t born into it like William and the King were. Both of them were raised as heirs to the throne and know what it’s like to be a child whilst learning the ropes of royal life and all the scrutiny that comes with it.

Seen through this lens, Marlene’s suggestion that Kate’s role with Prince George is "different" does make a lot of sense. It might help him to have just one parent taking on a bigger role in preparing him to be King, whilst the other balances this out.

Not that the Princess of Wales lacks experience of her own - far from it. As the royal historian remarked, "[Kate] and William dated for nearly 10 years before their engagement was announced, which allowed her the time and space to learn about her future life."

This was a big factor in why the Prince of Wales took his time proposing to his now-wife and he revealed this in the couple’s engagement interview in 2010.

"Her and her family, I really want to make sure that they have the best, sort of, guidance and chance to see what life has been like - or what life is like - in the family," he said. "That’s kind of almost why I’ve been waiting this long is that I wanted to give her a chance to see and to back out if she needed to before it all got too much."

Given how much he and Kate want their kids to have as down-to-earth upbringings as possible, it likely stands George, Charlotte and Louis in good stead to have one parent born to be King and another raised outside the Royal Family. It gives them the best of both worlds and the Princess of Wales always wanted to have a family like the one she grew up in.

"[Family is] very important to me," she said in her engagement interview. "And I hope we will be able to have a happy family ourselves. Because they've been great over the years - helping me with difficult times. We see a lot of each other and they are very, very dear to me."