The Prince and Princess of Wales had to come up with a genuine plan to avoid any blunders during their departure from the hospital with their firstborn son, Prince George. Prince George, who this week celebrated his 13th birthday, was born on July 22, 2013, at St Mary’s Hospital in London and the royal couple presented the young prince to the world’s media waiting outside the Lindo Wing of the hospital just days later.
Prince William said his son had a “good set of lungs” and joked that George already had more hair than he did. But the pair had practised their exit several times beforehand to ensure a smooth departure. The Princess of Wales revealed on Giovanna Fletcher’s podcast, “Happy Mum, Happy Baby”, in 2020 that she and William had even used a doll to practice before putting the newborn prince in a car seat to avoid any embarrassment.
She said: “We were like ‘What do we do?… in a swaddle?’. ‘How’s this supposed to work?!’
“We even tried to practice with a little baby, like a little doll, at home, but you know it just never works out the way you planned it, so it was quite hard to do that on the world’s stage, but no, he did a very good job.”
At the time, it was reported that the Prince and Princess of Wales were given parenting lessons in a conservatory before George was born.
The lessons, which were reportedly carried out by the late obstetric physiotherapist, Christine Hill, in the conservatory at her West London home, were mostly attended by Catherine, whilst William was present for one of them.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Catherine said her experience and journey as a mother would allow her to pass on the “huge amount” of knowledge she has amassed over the years to her younger self when she first became pregnant.
Ms Fletcher asked: “If you could write a letter to anyone about motherhood, who would it be to and what would you say?”
The future queen answered: “Can I write back to myself, is that really weird? I think I would have liked to write to myself at the beginning of my pregnancy with my first child.
“This is not just because of what I have experienced as a mother but also what I have learnt on my journey. I have learnt a huge amount that I would really love to go back and tell myself at the beginning. The things that I feel now really matter in terms of being a parent and what really matters to my children now.”