Why Kate Middleton and Prince William Are “Careful Not to Overwhelm” Prince George

Prince George is undergoing a shift in his life as a royal—of course, the future king has been royal since birth (and, ergo, in the public eye as a result), but his parents Prince William and Kate Middleton are slowly, slowly introducing him into what life as a working royal will look like someday for him. 

Case in point? A May 5 tea party in Buckingham Palace’s Marble Hall, where George—as well as his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales—mingled with around 50 veterans and people who lived through World War II. Earlier in the day, George’s younger siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis had joined the family to take part in VE Day commemorations (including watching a flypast on the Buckingham Palace balcony), but it was only George who attended the tea party afterwards—and it represented a big step forward in his burgeoning royal career.

“This is probably the last big event where there will be veterans who served in the Second World War, so it will stick in his memory that he met people who fought and give him a connection to them,” royal biographer Robert Jobson told Hello!. He added that “the fact that he was meeting and conversing with these veterans, I thought that was a really good move by William and Kate.”

As George gets older—he will be 12 in July—“They are preparing him for public life,” Jobson continued. “Kids can find it difficult to meet people, shake their hands, and look them in the eye, but he does it very well. I think what they’re trying to achieve is that he’s relaxed in that sort of situation, and I thought it was very successful.”

“I think they’re trying to be careful not to overwhelm him, because he’s at a delicate age, but it’s very important, given that the late Queen [Elizabeth] is no longer here, to have that continuity going forward,” he said.

Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told The Mirror that it seems as though George is beginning to understand his future in the monarchy: “I love seeing him at football matches when he can let his hair down,” Bond said, referring to one of George’s favorite pastimes with his dad William. “But at big events like this, he looks as if he is taking it all in and understanding that his life will be punctuated by national occasions where his will be a key role.”

Of the tea party with World War II veterans specifically, she added that this “may be the only opportunity George will ever have of speaking to men and women who served their King and country during the war.”

“It’s a lesson that will serve him well in the future,” Bond added. “One day he will be Chief of the Armed Forces himself, and he may well look back at some of those conversations and be glad that he had the chance to meet some of the few remaining veterans.” At the event itself, she noticed that “William sometimes put George first and foremost, letting him sit with veterans while he hovered behind. That was a clever and reassuring way for William to mentor his son.”

It’s a balance, Bond said—not just with George, but Charlotte and Louis as well—as to allowing the kids to have as normal a life as possible while also preparing them for duty. “I think William and Catherine are still determined to shield their children from public life as much as possible and for as long as possible,” Bond said. “But they also know that the public loves seeing the children grow up.”

“William has said in the past that one of the most important functions of the monarchy is to stay relevant,” she continued. “And by including the children in occasions like this [VE Day], as well as issuing lovely informal photographs and videos of them at regular intervals, the family remains visible and in touch whilst maintaining some elements of privacy when they are off duty.”