Prince Louis of Cambridge - news and photos

[Barrie]

Kate was in a lose/lose situation. Nanny Maria was a few rows back, if she had called her immediately to take Louis, the narrative would have been that Kate doesn't know how to handle her kids.

[Diogenes]

I kept waiting for Kate to give “the look.”  Gosh, whatever happened to “the look” …?

[Hester]

I would not have let my child, not matter the age, cover my mouth and make that finger wagging/tongue poking gesture. But I've also never had that occur with the world's cameras on me.

[The bolded part]

I don't have children so I am curious...

What would you have done differently if your child did that? At that precise moment?

I have four. Mine sat in church every Sunday, albeit with quiet toys and colouring.

By age 4 they knew well enough not to treat me that way. But, if they had, I would have removed their hand and given them a stern “no”. I wouldn’t have laughed like Kate did. They knew the “look” and the firm squeeze on their hand.

But as I said, I didn’t have the world’s judgement on me either. But I find a lot of their behaviour appalling.

Also, I would have got a slap across the face if I’d done that to my mother, so there is that.

A slap across the face is pretty full-on! I’m so sorry that happened to you.

[Michelle0187]

Kate did the best she could with everyone watching. If she did what a ton of people said they would do, if Louis was their kid, she’d be called mommy dearest.

[lothwen]

I would not have let my child, not matter the age, cover my mouth and make that finger wagging/tongue poking gesture. But I've also never had that occur with the world's cameras on me.

[The bolded part]

I don't have children so I am curious...

What would you have done differently if your child did that? At that precise moment?

I have four. Mine sat in church every Sunday, albeit with quiet toys and colouring.

By age 4 they knew well enough not to treat me that way. But, if they had, I would have removed their hand and given them a stern “no”. I wouldn’t have laughed like Kate did. They knew the “look” and the firm squeeze on their hand.

But as I said, I didn’t have the world’s judgement on me either. But I find a lot of their behaviour appalling.

Also, I would have got a slap across the face if I’d done that to my mother, so there is that.

So your children DID misbehave at times. And you had to correct that behavior. The only difference was, you weren’t doing it in front of the entire world.

God, I love it when people try to pretend like their children just automatically knew how to behave, without having to be taught. News flash, you can’t pre-program your kids to behave a certain way.

[Paulina]

I kept waiting for Kate to give “the look.”  Gosh, whatever happened to “the look” …?

I tried "the look" when my kids were small. I was wholly unconvincing. Not in my personality. A dear friend, however, could give "the look" to my kids or any kids and boy did they shape up. To this day, they adore her and her "look."

[Gemsheal]

I think this topic (Louis's behavior) is getting a little heated ... If George and Charlotte are anything to go by, then Louis will come along given time. 

P.S. my sister calls "the look" the "stink-eye" and speaking as an adult she can even freeze me with it!   

[anneboleyn]

If George and Charlotte are anything to go by, then Louis will come along given time. 

Definitely! Charlotte used to be a little sassier in public and now she seems very well behaved. Louis will be just fine.

[Diogenes]

Ah the benefits of starting “real” school …

[TLLK]

I have 30 plus years experience as an elementary school teacher and I am "renowned" for my classroom control skills.  With complete honesty  I definitely state that I possess the "voice," the "look" and the "posture" to gain the attention most students.  I can assure you that it doesn't always work in every time especially if the environment is one that is atypical to what the child is used to being in.  From my experience, anytime you place children of all ages in an environment that is meant to "hype' them up, it's going to take time to settle them down. There's a reason that the student to teacher ratio is higher with the Pre-school age group than it is with older children.  Watch any spirit assembly, concert, carnival,  field day or sports event and you will see adults trying their best to just keep everyone relatively calm and safe.

Catherine did the best that she could during the situation. Louis will be a calmer child when he's next on the balcony in 2023. They have a handle on it.

[SvenskaSarah]

I've tried to refrain from posting in this thread because I'm not a parent and also because I know that a child is a child.

I was a little s**t as a child, and in strange situations I would try to see what I could get away with. That's what I noticed with Louis here. I admire for W&K for letting their children be just that...children. Sure, behaviour will be learned in time.

It was a lose/lose for Kate (interesting how the media focus is on her and not on William, much like the focus has been on Zara and not Mike!) But at the same time at least the Pageant showed the bond W&K have with their children. It is remarkable evident from this one engagement alone that they are hands on parents and not the sort to fob their kids off to the nanny, much as many (including myself) expected a few years ago.

[Oh_Caroline]

What emtishell said about providing quiet toys and coloring really grabbed me as part of what made things difficult for Louis (and some other the other kids) was not only the length of the event but also having nothing else to engage with beyond the event.  As beautiful as the pageant was it was geared more towards all ages rather than younger children so being able to do something else might have helped.  I certainly wouldn't have faulted Kate/William had Louis been quietly coloring on the floor and then popping up when every something (music or such) grabbed his attention.  Having nothing else to do for nearly three hours can be hard for adults so it's understandable.  Everyone did as well as they could but they were asking a lot of the younger kids to stay engaged and well behaved for such a length of time.

[Paulina]

I have 30 plus years experience as an elementary school teacher and I am "renowned" for my classroom control skills.  With complete honesty  I definitely state that I possess the "voice," the "look" and the "posture" to gain the attention most students.  I can assure you that it doesn't always work in every time especially if the environment is one that is atypical to what the child is used to being in.  From my experience, anytime you place children of all ages in an environment that is meant to "hype' them up, it's going to take time to settle them down. There's a reason that the student to teacher ratio is higher with the Pre-school age group than it is with older children.  Watch any spirit assembly, concert, carnival,  field day or sports event and you will see adults trying their best to just keep everyone relatively calm and safe.

Catherine did the best that she could during the situation. Louis will be a calmer child when he's next on the balcony in 2023. They have a handle on it.

It's a gift, plus superb training to manage a class of little ones, or high schoolers. Good on you TLLK.

[luvcharles]

I started teaching primary school (7 - 12 year olds) and did that for 11 years before changing to high school (11 - 18 year olds) but I always admired those who taught the infants and pre-school kids as having way more patience than I had. When I started teaching what is now called 'primary' school in NSW was divided into infants (4 - 7/8 year olds) and I did no training on teaching those students. It was in my final year as a primary teacher that the state government decided to only have primary schools and expect all of us to be able to teach the full range. I knew there was no way I could teach Kindergarten students.

As for Catherine - she did a good job with the world watching. On another site there is a video of the children throughout the pageant and I have watched it twice and I am sure I have seen Mia 'punch' Mike in the face (maybe in play but still it is there). It also seems that Mia was stirring up Louis a lot at times.

There is also a image of Charlotte with one of the other girls reading a book at one point.

From that video it seems they were all 'misbehaving' according to some people and 'enjoying the afternoon' and interacting with those around them' while an 'at times boring' pageant was taking place in front of them. They seemed more engaged during the buses of the decades went by than the next phase of the pageant and that seemed, to me, the case for all of the children.

[hrhpita]

By age 4 they knew well enough not to treat me that way. But, if they had, I would have removed their hand and given them a stern “no”. I wouldn’t have laughed like Kate did. They knew the “look” and the firm squeeze on their hand.

Kate did not laugh and did nothing. She actually smiled at him, hold his hand and had a few words with him. He stopped. She did the same when he got distracted and put his finger on his mouth, at the balcony during Trooping and at the pageant.

If she had taken a hard approach and was more stern, I am pretty sure some idiot would have come and say she was an abuser. She took a more diplomatic approach in public and now she is "a weak and incompetent parent" and the poor kid has issues. She would never win. I hope she and the kids had a great time and enjoyed the celebrations!

Exactly, Thistle!!