Now that the newest addition to the royal family has left St. Mary’s hospital in London, proud parents William and Kate have a ton of decisions to make. To everyone’s surprise, they’ve already announced the name–George Alexander Louis–but they’ll probably take their time with sharing their plans on breastfeeding, nannies, and other new parent concerns. In the meantime, we decided to have some fun by hitting up maternity guru Rosie Pope (of “Pregnant in Heels” fame) for her forecast on these matters. Born in London herself, Pope was more than happy to give us the 411 on British traditions and royal treatment.
Do you think Kate will prefer breastfeeding?
England is a very pro-breastfeeding society and it’s perhaps more accepted in public than it is in the U.S. I think the aim will be to breastfeed, even though traditionally the royal family has had wet nurses. That doesn’t happen anymore.
Will William and Kate adopt a more American style or British style of parenting?
The way Diana parented was about family–more of an American environment and less of the stiff upper lip, hands-off British parenting. I think [William and Kate] also intend to take a more hands-on familial type approach to their parenting and really be involved. Princess Diana broke protocol with William–normally royal babies were left behind for weeks at a time, but when Princess Diana went on her first official duty to Australia, she took him with her. I think that’s the type of thing they’ll do.
Do you think they’ll they have nannies to help?
They haven’t said too much about nannies–but she will be ultimately a working mom, so she will need help.
What type of education will the royal baby likely receive?
Definitely private school. Without doubt there are a number of exclusive private schools in England that all the royal family has gone to and the fact that he’s a boy means he will follow suit.
What should we expect to see him wearing?
I think she’s going to follow the sort of high-low strategy that she follows with her own wardrobe that makes her so aspirational and relatable. There will definitely be Bonpoint and Marie-Chantal in the baby’s wardrobe, but you’ll also see her shopping at Zara Kids and H&M.
Anything else?
Something I find really interesting is that she has a lot of support in the role that she’s in. All the other royal women didn’t have the support of a mother by their side, and the Queen was notoriously not supportive of her kids in the past. So Kate’s the first royal lady having a baby with her mother by her side. I think it’s going to keep her grounded.
