Prince William won't make 'same mistakes' as his parents
Prince William doesn't want to make the "same mistakes" as his parents when raising his own children.
Prince William doesn't want to make the "same mistakes" as his parents when raising his own children.
The 43-year-old royal - who has Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, with wife Catherine, Princess of Wales - has pledged to "learn from" the way his own life was impacted when King Charles and his late first wife Princess Diana separated because he's aware of how any "drama" his brood are exposed to can have an effect when they are older.
Speaking to Eugene Levy on his Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler, William said: “You have to have that warmth, that feeling of safety, security, love.
"That all has to be there, and that was certainly part of my childhood. My parents got divorced at eight, so that lasted a short period of time.
"But, you take that and you learn from it and you try and make sure you don’t do the same mistakes as your parents. I think we all try and do that and I just want to do what’s best for my children, but I know that the drama and the stress when you’re small really affects you when you’re older.”
William prioritises finding the right "balance" with his work that works for his family and he and Catherine try to be present for the start and end of the school day.
Asked if he keeps a 9-5 schedule, he said: “Not really, no. It doesn’t quite work like that, but I do try and stick to school time tables as best as possible. So, most days we’re in and out of school doing pick-ups and drop offs.
“Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important. Because for me, the most important thing in my life is family, and everything is about the future and about if you don’t start the children off now with a happy, healthy, stable home, I feel you’re setting them up for a bit of a hard time and a fall.
"And so, it’s about making sure that we can look after our families, look after our children, in a way that is best for their future.”
And the family always have dinner together.
Asked if they sit at the dinner table together, William said: "Yep, absolutely, yep definitely. So, we sit and chat; it’s really important. None of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about.”
The prince and his wife encourage their children to stay active and take part in various sports.
He said: “Louis loves the trampoline, so he’s obsessed with trampolining and actually Charlotte does a lot as well.
"As far as I can tell, they just end up jumping up and down on the trampoline, beating each other up, most of the time. Apparently, there is an art to it.
"Charlotte does her netball as well, and her ballet, and so keeping them busy with sports and being outdoors is really important.
"They’re trying to learn musical instruments. I’m not sure how successful we’re being with that. George loves his football and his hockey.”
