Prince William may be the heir to the throne, sure, but he’s made it very clear over the years—especially this year—that, to him, family comes first. A proud dad he most certainly is, and he couldn’t help chatting with guests at yesterday’s Buckingham Palace garden party about his sons in particular—10-year-old Prince George and six-year-old Prince Louis. (William is also dad to daughter Princess Charlotte, who turned nine years old earlier this month.)
If we’re lucky, royals will let slip details about their personal and home lives at engagements like this, and William—in an upbeat mood despite the downcast skies raining over London—delivered at the garden party yesterday. During a chat with Rowan Aderyn, a member of William’s Homewards foundation (which works to fight homelessness), the author gave William one of only 10 copies of the children’s book Homewards, after which William let slip a detail about Louis’ bedtime routine, Us Weekly reports.
“The gift was one that William greatly appreciated,” the outlet reports, and he told Aderyn he couldn’t wait to share it with Louis. “This is great, so inspirational,” William said. “I’ll read this to Louis tonight at bedtime.”
Per The Daily Mail, this isn’t the first time William has mentioned a children’s book by name that he reads to his kids before bed; after spotting the book Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson during a visit to a South Wales ice cream parlor in February 2020, he said, “I read this to our children all the time,” Hello reports. He recalled that the book had saved many bedtimes, and said when he met Donaldson upon her receiving her CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to literature, “I said, ‘Do you realize how many parents you have saved at bedtime?’” William said.
William also called out author David Williams, who the Prince of Wales said “also does good books for children—for a little bit older children, I think. I’ve read one, and it was really, really good.”
Aderyn’s Homewards is named after William’s initiative to eradicate homelessness and features a boy named Jack who finds himself without a home. (Aderyn—word to the wise—print more than 10 copies! The world needs to read this book.)
Per The Daily Express, George was also on William’s mind while he conversed with another garden party guest. While holding an umbrella for RAF Squadron Leader Chrissie Lacey, William touched on George’s future career aspirations, telling her George would love to visit her base as he is a “potential pilot in the making,” William said. This isn’t the first time one of George’s parents has spoken of his love of planes—as far back as 2016, Princess Kate revealed that George, then just three years old, was “obsessed with planes and wants to become an air cadet,” Hello reports. George comes about it honestly, as William was once a search and rescue helicopter pilot.
Back to the garden party—William also told the Squadron Leader during their conversation that he “loves cookies” after Lacey told him about her “cookie ministry.”
