They must not allow tantrums
It’s truly amazing that royal children behave as well in public as they do. What’s their parenting secret? According to one expert, it’s giving the children lots of practice. “Etiquette training for the royals starts as soon as they’re old enough to sit at a table,” Myka Meier of Beaumont Etiquette told People. For example, to prepare to sit through Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle, the children would have gone through rehearsals and learned specific behaviour and protocol, she says.
But royal parents have an advantage all parents would love: a team standing by to help. “They would have many royal aides and members of the royal family to assist and guide the children through the day,” Meier said. “If there were any issues, they would have been seamlessly taken care of.”
They must treat any bad behaviour with grace
But we have seen some near-meltdowns, such as Princess Charlotte’s outburst on a tarmac. Still, as Duchess Catherine did in that instance, the royal parents must keep their cool to defuse the situation before their children get out of control. A new tactic Prince William and Duchess Catherine are fond of that bucks royal tradition, but works well to calm children, is to squat to the child’s level to speak to them. Although Prince William has been scolded by the Queen for pulling this common move, in the case of impending bad behaviour, avoiding a scene is more important.
They mustn’t raise their voice to their children in public
You’ll never hear the royals yelling at their kids, especially since a stern whispered word is often more effective. Or, royal parents have the option to take the opposite tack and simply laugh it off, like it’s all part of the show. Duchess Catherine showed this expert parenting move during a recent outing to a regatta when Princess Charlotte (who may be the family troublemaker) stuck out her tongue at photographers. Instead of making a big deal of it, Kate just flashed a smile and quickly ushered her daughter away.