The 'amazing' person inspiring Kate Middleton’s royal parenting style - and Carole's too

Prince George, Charlotte and Louis are growing up with experiences that you only get as a royal, yet in many ways, their childhood is far more like Kate’s than Prince William’s. Being a hands-on parent doing school drop-offs and attending sports matches is incredibly important to the Princess of Wales and whilst Carole Middleton is a big influence, someone else has also heavily inspired her parenting.

Speaking on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast in 2020, the Princess revealed that she's recreating "a lot of the experiences" she had with her grandmother.

"I had an amazing granny who devoted a lot of time to us, playing with us, doing arts and crafts and going to the greenhouse to do gardening, and cooking with us," Kate said. "And I try and incorporate a lot of the experiences that she gave us at the time into the experiences that I give my children now."

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The Princess of Wales didn’t specify which of her grandmothers she was talking about, although it’s been widely suggested that she was referring to Valerie Middleton. Something Carole said in her first ever interview could also hint at this, as she said she had a "wonderful role model" in her mother-in-law "who [she] tried to emulate".

Cooking, arts and crafts and getting outdoors together regularly come up in conversation when Kate and William discuss their family. Later on the podcast episode the future Queen was asked to complete the sentence "I’m happy when…" and responded, "I'm with my family outside in the countryside and we're all filthy dirty".

Last year, the future Queen described nature as a "sanctuary" for the Waleses after her cancer diagnosis, and spending time outdoors together was the focus of many of the clips in Will Warr’s video when she announced she’d completed treatment.

Over the summer she also confessed that George, Charlotte and Louis had been "crafting in every corner of the house". This very much sounds like Kate’s experiences with Valerie are being passed down to her kids and just as her granny "devoted a lot of time" to her, she does this for them.

The Prince and Princess of Wales usually clear their diaries during school holidays and are focused on creating a good work/life balance.

"I do try to stick to school timetables as much as possible, so most days we’re in and out of school doing drop offs and pick ups. Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important, because for me, the most important thing in my life is family," William said on Apple TV+’s The Reluctant Traveler back in October.

Meanwhile, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond previously compared William and Kate’s parenting to the royals and expressed her belief that they’re hands-on "in a way neither Charles and Diana, nor the late Queen and Prince Philip ever were".

"From the start they have cared for their children themselves as much as possible with minimal outside help," she continued. "This is an unusual and enlightened decision by the couple: you can’t undo the destiny you were born into, but you can make life more of a family affair than an upbringing in palaces and castles would allow."