If anyone wanted a window into the world of the Waleses, yesterday’s remarkable “mini-movie” was that window.
It was striking that there were no phones or tablets in sight. Rosy-cheeked, light-eyed and bare-legged, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and little Prince Louis ran around the woods, fields and beaches near their Norfolk home, playing cricket, climbing trees and competitively challenging their parents to card games.
Some cynics were quick to scoff that this bucolic, decidedly wholesome slice of family life seemed artificial, but they would be wrong.
What you see is pretty much what you get with the Prince and Princess of Wales, and as parents William and Kate really practice what they preach, emphasise the friends.
The lack of technology, the outdoor lifestyle and their love of nature are part of their daily life.
While Adelaide Cottage, their relatively cosy (by royal standards) four-bedroom property on the Windsor estate, is the family’s home during term time, there’s no doubt that Anmer Hall, the Waleses’ far grander country residence at Sandringham, where the family was captured by filmmaker Will Warr, is their sanctuary.
I have often been told that they would have loved to live there full-time, if they could. As soon as the family can get away to Norfolk, they do, and the little ones are encouraged to spend as much time as they can outdoors, playing in the garden, climbing trees, swimming, sailing or, when they are wet, indoors enjoying crafts and, as we now know, playing cards.
In fact, it’s enlightening to see the family sharing not one, but two games in their three-minute video message.
Some cynics were quick to scoff that this bucolic, decidedly wholesome slice of family life seemed artificial, but they are wrong, writes Rebecca English.
It’s enlightening to watch the family play along in their three-minute video message.
One of the most striking aspects of the video, however, has to be the affection shown between the couple, who are not known for their public displays.
In the first, we get a glimpse inside Anmer: a chic yet cosy country house, with plates hanging on the walls and crockery piled in worn white display cabinets, with family photos, knickknacks and baskets strewn about on the sideboard.
Seated around the table are the couple and their children, along with Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, playing a game of spoons.
Players pass cards around until they get four of a kind and quickly grab a utensil from the center of the table. If you’re the one left out, you get a letter—spell it “spoon” and you’re out. Instead of cutlery, though, the Waleses play with used Nespresso coffee capsules. Definitely not the kind found on the tea table at Buckingham Palace.
William and Kate can also be seen sitting on a checked picnic blanket and using a Battle of Britain-themed playing card game — almost certainly a sweet nod to their late grandfather, Peter Middleton, a World War II RAF hero. At one point, the prince uses a playing card to pull a caterpillar out of his daughter’s hair, suggesting he’s also the kind of dad who’s learned how to do a quick ponytail or braid in the morning.
However, one of the most striking aspects of the video is the affection shown between the couple, who are not known for their public displays.
The children’s public appearances are done solely on William and Kate’s terms, largely unannounced, as long as the children are comfortable.
It is thanks to the relaxed middle-class normality of the Waleses that we see three royal children today so gloriously natural and unapologetic.
In the video, we get a rare glimpse inside Anmer: a country-chic yet cosy spot, with plates hanging on the walls and crockery piled high in weathered white display cases.
I’ve heard it’s a sign that cancer has redefined their relationship and what they’re comfortable sharing as a couple. Like anyone going through a life-changing experience at a relatively young age, William and Kate simply care less about what other people think and are doubling down on what matters to them.
Several years ago I wrote that there is something of a “steel marshmallow” about the princess, the nickname given to the late Queen Mother, soft and squishy on the outside but with an iron rod in her back. Kate has put that inner steel to good use, particularly during the incredibly difficult past nine months, but also since the beginning of her journey into royal life, protecting her marriage, her family and her children.
She has always been determined that her children should grow up as free as possible from the predetermined roles they were born into, something William has strongly supported her in doing.
Public appearances by young people are made solely on their own terms, largely unannounced, if the children feel comfortable.
In fact, whenever possible, at least one parent drops the children off at school each day, and often both parents sit together on the sidelines at football and cricket matches, or cheer the “kids” on at the pool or dance recitals.
It is thanks to this relaxed middle-class normality that we see three royal children today so gloriously natural and unaffected.
And parents who are happy to offer an unprecedented look into the private world they have always so fiercely guarded in order to, as the princess herself put it, let the light that has emerged from the darkest of times “shine through” in the hope that it will help others on their own devastating and terrifying cancer journeys.
