His grandfather may be yet to sit on the throne, but Prince George has already been spoken to by his parents about his future responsibilities as King. As the nation ramps up to celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee in less than two weeks, Prince William has had to juggle heightened responsibilities which have allowed him to get a taste of being king, including carrying out a historic role on his grandmother's behalf for the first time.
On Tuesday, May 17, the Duke of Cambridge presented new colours to the military unit ahead of Trooping the Colour, Her Majesty's official birthday parade, which will be taking place next month in addition to her many Platinum Jubilee occasions. Trooping the Colour will happen on Thursday, June 2, the day before the special Bank Holiday Weekend begins in commemoration of Her Majesty's 70-year-long reign.
Prince Charles has also had to step up in recent times to fulfil his mother's duties, as mobility issues have led to The Queen stepping away from some of her traditional duties and roles. A few weeks ago, Prince Charles stood in for Her Majesty at the State Opening of Parliament, and read the Queen's Speech, laying out the 38 bills the government intends on passing.
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Although Charles has heavily primed his eldest son for being king for nearly four decades, William has not prepared his son in the same way. According to royal biographer Robert Lacey, George would have only been told about his destiny as the Cambridges' eldest child when he was around seven years old, The Express reports.
Mr Lacey claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wanted to sit down and tell George of his destiny upfront, rather than him finding out through someone else. In his latest book, 'Battle of Brothers', the writer penned: “William has not revealed to the world how and when he broke the big news to his son.
"Maybe one day George will tell us the story himself. But sometime around the boy’s seventh birthday in the summer of 2020 it is thought that his parents went into more detail about what the little prince’s life of future royal 'service and duty' would particularly involve."
Mr Lacey also said that William and Kate wanted to sit seven-year-old Prince George down at a 'controlled moment of their choice'. Their decision was said to link to "William’s unhappiness at the haphazard fashion in which the whole business of his royal destiny had buzzed around his head from the start."
Princess Diana, William's late mother, avoided telling William of his destiny because she wanted both William and his brother, Harry to have as normal an upbringing as possible. However, William eventually found out when he then started school, and noticed that he was treated differently to the rest of his classmates.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton wrote of Prince William's school life in his book, 'William and Catherine: Their Lives, Their Wedding'. He wrote: "Before William attended school, he genuinely had no idea that he was any different from anyone else.
"His innocence of his position was soon ended by fellow pupils, who left him in no doubt who he was. On one occasion a classmate reportedly asked him: ‘Don’t you know the Queen?’
"William looked at him and replied: ‘Don’t you mean Granny?'"
When William was studying at Eton College, he would often spend afternoons with his grandmother at Windsor Castle, where The Queen would prepare him for his future as King through 'constitutional education', as Mr Lacey put it. He explained: "There has always been a special closeness between William and the Queen, and she has taken a particular interest in him.
"When William became a teenager, she would have him at Windsor Castle and would open the state boxes and guide him through the papers. It was William's constitutional education."
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