Princesses—they’re just like us! Except for all the ways that they absolutely are not!
“It’s pretty much like a normal mom,” the royal exclusively told PEOPLE at the World Childhood Foundation USA ThankYou Gala in New York City.
“They wake me up and we fix breakfast together and the breakfast flies all over the place!” she adds. “And then we go out to the park and we swing, we try to do a lot of activities because my little Leonore, she has lots of energy, so we have to keep her stimulated and busy.”
The piece goes on to explain:
The royal says her hands-on approach to motherhood is inspired by her own childhood.
“I think because my mom and father, of course, were so devoted to their work and as King and Queen, they have lots of obligations, so they were away quite a bit when we were small. But when they were home, they were very present and I feel that I want to give my children as much as I can,” she says.
Sorry, but if you are a member of a royal family, with the immense resources that entails, you are not just another mom trying to make it through the chaos of the day. Which is not to cast aspersions on anyone’s mothering skills, or suggest that there’s not a core set of challenges that even the most privileged mother in the world faces. And it’s understood that balancing relatability with pomp is part of the royal gig these days.
It’s just that no matter how often you serve dinner from“pots of food served straight to the table”—I see you, Kate Middleton—or “the breakfast flies all over the place,” if you are a literal princess, you are not just another parent trying to keep your head above water, any more than millionaire actresses are the vanguard of the pay equity revolution. (Even in a country with parental leave benefits like Sweden.) To insist otherwise is condescending. Like you actually have to clean that food up afterward?
Love your maternity style, though, Madeleine.
