As we discussed a bit last week (although practically no one read that story), Prince William gave his first “post-baby” interview to CNN. CNN is airing the interview as part of an hour-long special airing September 15th. But now CNN has put together a preview of the interview and I have to admit, William comes across very well here. He and Harry always seem at ease during interviews, so that’s no surprise, but William just seems… I don’t know how to say it. Happier? Kind of punch-drunk on fatherhood? He just seems changed somehow. Here’s the video clip and I’ll add some highlights afterwards:
William says he didn’t mind showing the world Prince George right away: “I was on such a high anyway, and so was Catherine about George, that really we were happy to show him off to whoever wanted to see him. As any new parent knows, you’re only too happy to show off your new child and, you know, proclaim that he is the best looking or the best everything… I’m just glad he wasn’t screaming his head off the whole way through!”
On using the car seat for George: “Believe, me it wasn’t my first time,” William said, “and I know there’s been some speculation about that. I had to practice, I really did — I was terrified it was going to fall off or the door wasn’t going to close properly.”
George cries a lot and doesn’t sleep: “[He’s] growing quite quickly actually. But he’s a little fighter. He kind of, he wriggles around quite a lot. And he doesn’t want to go to sleep that much, which is a little bit of a problem.”
Kate’s doing a good job: “She’s doing a fantastic job. For me, Catherine, and now little George are my priorities. I think the last few weeks for me have been just a very different emotional experience. Something I never thought I would feel myself . . .a lot of things affect me differently now.”
George is a rascal: “He’s a little bit of a rascal, I’ll put it that way. He either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I’m not sure, but he’s doing very well at the moment.”
William was looking forward to going back to work: “Well, as a few fathers might know, I’m actually quite looking forward to going back to work (to) get some sleep. So I’m just hoping the first few shifts I go back I don’t have any night jobs.”
Doing it his own way: “I am as independent as I want to be, same as Catherine and Harry. We’ve all grown up differently to other generations and I very much feel if that I can do it myself, I want to do it myself. There are times where you can’t do it yourself and the system takes over, or it’s appropriate to do things differently. But I think driving your son and your wife away from hospital was really important to me.”
Don’t forget about the dog! “For me, Catherine and now little George are my priorities — and Lupo…[Lupo’s] coping all right, actually. As a lot of people know who have got dogs and bringing a newborn back, they take a little bit of time to adapt, but he’s been all right so far. He’s been slobbering around the house a bit, so he’s perfectly happy.”
His son’s legacy: “At the moment, the only legacy I want to pass on to him is to sleep more and maybe not have to change his nappy so many times.”
Now I want to know where Lupo was when Kate and William were staying with her parents? Where was Lupo?! Did Harry have to look after Lupo? Or do they not even trust Harry to look after the dog? Here’s what I really think – I think some staffers were probably looking after Lupo. You know, those staffers that William and Kate don’t really have but they really do.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Awww, he’s a proud dad, who can blame him!
I’m sure Lupo has his own Nanny too.
Lupo was at Kate’s parents house too.
Sweet! He’s a besotted new dad, which is as it should be 🙂
Isn’t it sweet? Love it.
I love his posh Brit accent. Love it, love it, love it.
What a refreshing change. They want to share their baby with the world vs Kim K who is waiting for a pay day and Kanye who want his child on the cover of Vogue cough cough…
If you scroll down in this link, you’ll see some new leaked pics of Wiill, Kate, and George 🙂
http://royaldish.com/index.php?topic=12794.915
i love when the dog is in the baby photos
i guess the 2nd dog asleep behind kate is her parents’ dog
I agree that he is ‘punch drunk’ on fatherhood.
For once I can believe what he is saying because his demeanor is so different since the baby was born. He seems really happy and relaxed. I think George might make a man out of him yet!
ITA, he seems so much more relaxed now. Mind you, he never did look super uptight in front of the cameras (not like his father, lol) but yeah, I think having the baby has mellowed him a bit.
It remains to see how long it will last, of course. 😛
I like this whole interview (well, the parts we have). It’s personable and warm and human while maintaining a sense of dignity that comes with the [non-RAF] job. William hit all the perfect soundbites – about doing it differently, making wife and baby his priority, giving credit to The Firm – without sounding fake. Also apparently that Georgie got PR-training in the womb. He was a perfect little angel during the photo-op, but sounds like he hasnt shut up since.
Lol. I am liking little George already.
Well said Anna. The interview was perfect and like LAK he was easy to believe. Now, if Will, Kate, George, and Lupo can maintain this sense of family values and simple honesty they’ll be just fine.
I bet George is going to be a looker just like preteen William.
Florc – You are forgetting the Windsor genes.
Where the royal family is concerned, we can rely on 3 things with absolute certainty…birth, death and those Windsor genes.
The Windsor genes are not kind to anyone’s looks. Every single one of them, even in the wider family, is hit with the Windsor genes in their mid-20s and it’s rapidly downhill looks from there.
LAK – You dont think the gene skipped Harry?
Also, Prince Philip and his mother were BEYOND gorgeous. Too bad that gene turned recessive.
Anna – With Harry, I think it’s fighting it out with the Mountbatten genes! Helped by a dollop of Spencer genes.
I think since the Windsor genes won out on Charles, we don’t give enough credit to his Mountbatten genes.
Harry mostly looks like Philip now, but sometimes, he looks like Charles too. And I think the Charles part is the Windsor trying to assert itself.
Long may the Mountbatten win out!!! 🙂
On a sideways note, Andrew (and Eugenie)’s Windsor gene is fighting it out with the Bowes-Lyon genes. Eugenie looks like the spit of the QM as a young woman. Andrew did too. Once the Windsor took over Andrew, you don’t see it so much anymore. I suspect in a few years the same will happen to Eugenie.
Beatrice is already suffering from the Windsor asserting itself. She used to look like Victoria (but prettier) but lately I see EIIR more and more in her face.
Totally agree. My older brother, who was always a little standoffish with family, became a father earlier this summer and it has really softened him. He has that same punch drunk big goofy lovable guy thing going on right now. It’s wonderful to see and it’s really heartwarming to see how much he loves his son. He’s gonna be a great dad and I think Wills will too.
Yep, he’s happy. It was a good interview.
He is controlling his brand very very well.
Wasn’t their dog at the Middleton’s? I remember reading a story in the Daily Fail a few days before Kate gave birth that their dog got his head stuck in a gate and they had to call the fire department to free him.
Yes, Lupo was at the Middletons, along with the new housekeeper. It’s not a secret where he was or who was taking care of him. He wasn’t left behind with Harry because Harry wasn’t even at home most of the time.
There’s something about him referring to George as a rascal that I find completely adorable.
+1 Fatherhood really suits him
I love the rascal comment, too. So cute.
Hmm….. me too!
Lol, he seems very much in love with his wife and son-and in desperate need of some sleep!
I love this couple! They are a breath of fresh air in that stuffy dynasty. He’s so adorable about George, typical new dad. It doesn’t appear a nanny is taking care of him. He & his wife are tired, silly, totally in awe of their first child! Just as it should be.
I’m pretty sure Lupo spends as much time with the Middleton’s as Kate does!
Also, the first 12 weeks of having a baby are total survival mode! I can’t imagine giving an interview in that time frame!! It gets so much better Will! Fewer diapers and more sleep!
Yes, he seems very relatable, intelligent and down to earth. I bet he will be an excellent father. As for George not sleeping well and being fussy, I very strongly believe that babies are more “difficult” when the mother undergoes a lot of stress during her pregnancy. Not to blame Kate at all, bc who wouldn’t be stressed in her shoes? But I’ve seen the results of my own four pregnancies, and many others, and usually the first child is the hardest anyways, bc parenthood is a huge adjustment/ life changing event for the new parents, so even in the best of circumstances there still tends to be stress and anxiety.
That’s really interesting. I was super stressed my first baby and he was really fussy and crying all the time for the first 3 months.
Mine too. And she didn’t sleep through the night until one. But my second and fourth were (are) the kind of babies that slept 6 hours as newborns and cried only to eat, smiled and laughed nonstopa soon as they learned how, and even when they cry I just smile at them and they smile back through instinct. I had blissful, very low stress pregnancies with those two. My third was stressful bc of circumstances beyond my control, and I had what I consider a “normal” fussier, sensitive child and baby. All of my kids are happy, loving kids and my oldest is now a ten year old girl, and Im amazed by her beauty and talent (she’s a gymnast/ competing cheerleader), and my third is extremely smart and mature for his age (3), but my two w the easy pregnancies, are just naturally happy-go-lucky personalities that never really had tantrums, and are extremely grateful (for children) for anything they’re given and just love life in general.
Aww…he’s in love with his baby boy. That’s sweet.
The royals they are just like US! Except for when they write down prince and princess instead of real occupations and have staffers doing most of their work but pretend they do everything on their own.
lmbo over here!
T.C.
Yea, the public can be easily distracted with a cute baby. At least for now William is working at the RAF. He, Kate, and baby George are all under the same roof. There have been no crazy, daily shopping trips even though there’s likely personal shoppers around.
Soon there’s a friends wedding and a long vacation with only an hour or so of engagements for a stretch of time, but for right now they seem just right. I’ll put away my pitch fork and torch for now.
Bwah…
So where does Harry live?
Harry lives primarily on base with other soldiers, and when he is in town, which isn’t that often despite the media always making a big thing of his town visits, at KP.
Thanks, lack. KP seems very boring but then again it is closer to the nightlife than the other residences. When Will and Kate’s apartment is finished I wonder if Harry will be in town more often. But the grounds at kp are lovely and the public can go there too.
You cannot choose the family you are born into (most people forget that and are critical either way) but what you can and should do is use your circumstances whether those are rich, poor, royal, aristocratic, sad, happy, healthy, troubled ect…use and/or turn them around and live a honorable and healthy life.
I think William has done quite well with what he was given. He’ll never have to hold a 9/5 job or worry about money and I’m sure he has made mistakes along the way and some things get done by other people (as he mentioned) but he’s a respectful and lovely man.
+1 I love this comment so much. There are a great number of William haters, but I respect the life he has lead so far. He seems to be serious by nature, and a great amount of responsibility was put on his shoulders at a young age, giving him even more gravity. So yes, he is quite serious, but serious doesn’t have to mean unlikable. He’s really lived up to the duties set before him and while he’s not perfect, he generally makes few serious mistakes or offers complaints (unlike, say, Andrew).
I believe that once he takes the crown, people will respect what he’s accomplished and come to recognize him as a hard working monarch in the style of his grandmother.
I love this couple too. You are in survival mode those first few weeks. I felt so many emotions and such love for my husband and child(ren) too. I still remember some childless friends giggling about how proud we were that our son could hold his head up so well 🙂
Thank God. My kids were just like that as babies, screaming, fussing, crying, NEVER sleeping, fighting their way out of the swaddle, chucking pacifers (yeah my two day old baby spit her pacifer so hard it flew out of the bassinet, needless to say she never took to the thing and thats probably for the better but man my boobs were sore!) Everyone I know never reports their babies doing anything but sleeping.
Well, we’ll see how long Willy is relaxed with the press…………….
I find him glib. He gives soundbites.
They make me smile and believe there are better things happening in this crazy world–
And this is why I love this couple! I am sure that George has his nannies like any other baby born to royalty but I think these two love being hands-on parents as well. Good for them because yep that’s what babies do at this age, cry, sleep, eat, cry, pee and poo and then cry some more! They exemplify the difference in true class and lack of klass.
New money tends to have less class. Old money is well established and has no need or want to throw their weight around.
There’s a mountain of behavior with the Middleton’s early years and the non royal siblings that show them to be just as classless as any other famewhore family. They just landed the golden goose and for the most part learned to keep their mouths shut instead of continuing behavior to keep the money coming in. Not to mention the royal pr machine to clean up their past.
If the midds and Kate truly have class then no one should need to put down others to compliment them by misspelling class.
Being a wealthy aristocrat with old money doesn’t automatically make you classy, nor does a royal title. Class and sophistification come from either nature or nurture. It would be very easy to highlight crass, vulgar, inappropriate and essentially scandalous behavior by people who were lucky enough to be born with old money.
And of course there are many others with either new money or no money at all who are hardworking, kind and considerate. I do not know everything about the Middletons but it does seem that Will finds them to be warm and supportive – preferring their company to his own family’s. it seems that if a commoner does something they are pretending to be above their station but if an aristo does the same thing no one wants to dwell on it. But human nature cuts across class, race, gender, religion and other biosocial constructs. Strange things happen behind mansion walls, as well as outside of them.
William obviously loves his kid.
As for “true” class, we’ll see. We’ll just see what happens over time.
I bet Lupo is with them at her parents. He seems to travel with them no matter where they are at.
I love them. I think they are a breath of fresh air.
William is an adorable daddy.
I’m just back from being out of town and I’ve only been glancing at the newspaper but I thought I read that Kate and Georgie have joined William in Wales. Is that true?
That’s what’s been reported. Carole went down there for a day or two as well.
Toward the end of the interview I teared up a little, to my surprise. I felt affection for him and his family and thought how proud his mother would be.
I thought so too. Will, like Diana ,is headstrong. His strength of will (unlike hers which ultimately hurt her) to forge his own lifestyle is wonderful and will help the royal family. I hope he continues on in this way. George is Diana’s first grandchild, I think she’d be so proud.
George’s official pics have been published. Kate looks beautiful and little George is adorable. 😀
they look good though i have to say that i thought when they said they were releasing informal portraits, that the pics wouldn’t be posed.
The portrait looks like a christmas card!
From your fingers to their eyes, LAK. It might be this year’s!
That’s what I gathered, too, LAK. I thought it would be very informal, like Kate sitting in a rocking chair while cuddling George, or William standing next to the baby’s crib or that Moses basket Kate and Carole were photographed with.
The press has been hyping these photos up as “different”…but the only difference is the photographer (possibly Kate’s Dad). The lighting in the photos is horrible.
Maybe that’s what they meant. Informal = not taken by a professional photographer.
I hate words that can have different interpretations. Makes my snark unfocused!!! 🙂
my interpretation of informal was same as yours or the types of pics Charles and Diana released.
Given what we’ve received, i concur with your interpretation i.e. not taken by a professional.
I know, LAK. I was preparing to get my “hate” on. 😀
But Kate did look very pretty. Something about her smile seems more genuine and matured, less hyena/cat-got-the-cream. I also love the colour of her dress.
William’s smile looked stiff in the 2nd photo. My Dad looks like that in ‘portrait’ shots, too. 🙂
Yes she looks pretty and soft. i hope she keeps the weight. William is trying but he does look stiff. perhaps that’s why they added the dog. it softens him up.
Here is my snark: Are we seeing the return of the extensions [or possibly wiglet]?? 🙂 you know how obsessed i am by extensions/weaves/wiglets.
comparing the thickness in the portrait with thickness in candid above, makes me think they’ve been used.
William isn’t showing his best side. he is usually photographed on the other side of Kate. For some reason he looks jowly [or shadow of jowly] in a manner to his Spencer grandfather and we know he is not.
The photographer doesn’t know much about lighting and posing photographic subjects accordingly.
I think the photos are done up like a catalog-style spread: the lighting is very bright that the model looks superimposed on the photo but also makes the subject appear softer/less HD.
Kinda like that magazine shoot the Twilight cast did where Kristen and Rob had the sunlight on their heads, except those were professionally done and it showed.
As for the hair: I think you’re right. Although it could be some volumizing spray and a big barrel curling iron…and again defeating the description of an “informal” setting.
From what I understand, the hair thins after you have a baby (after it thickened up during pregnancy) so I would not be surprised if she’s gone back to the wiglet. Which I now hate you for. You’re right that you can’t unsee it!
Where are the pictures at?
http://24.media.tumblr.com/75639068192e22728540b5e2264f18bb/tumblr_mrshwim5Li1qdm4v9o1_500.png
http://31.media.tumblr.com/817ac1528cb5b1b9ce3228a42907db34/tumblr_mrshwim5Li1qdm4v9o2_500.png
The quality of the pictures isn’t great… they were taken by Kate’s dad, which is perfectly fine. I don’t love the photos, but that’s jmo. Kate looks lovely, but the lighting on the originals is terrible (especially the first one) and you can see only a bit more of the baby than in the hospital photos. These are ‘posed’ without really being posed properly, if that makes sense?
Looks like The Times tried to edit the photos and fix some of the lighting issues… I guess it helped the lighting some, but now that pic just looks kind of photo shop-y to me.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00443/ROYAL_BABY_GEORGE_443096b.jpg
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00443/Royal_baby_443097b.jpg
Thank you, LAK and Belle! They both look really happy and relaxed. (As relaxed as you can be with a newborn, lol!)
Wow Belle, I didn’t notice just how much photoshopping went into the pics. My copies are originals. The ones you’ve posted from the times are definitely photoshopped. Definitely agree with your assessment that they tried to correct the colour and lighting issues.
The people (and dog!) in the photos do look happy, but that is some unfortunate photo quality.
Lak – the photos were taken in early August, so the weight is probably long gone by now!!
‘He is a bit of a rascal.’ I LOVE how honest his answers are. I give them major kudos on showing the world their newborn son right away, and not waiting….we saw him, we were satisfied, and hopefully William and Catherine were not hounded by the press afterwards, and they could somewhat ‘relax’ and enjoy George and being first time parents…..I just love this family!!
Whoops, apologies
Nice sound bite.
I’m not buying what he’s selling.
In plainglish: I don’t think he enjoys fatherhood as much as he wants us to believe. In fact, I think he wants to go back to drinking, partying, traveling and sexing other women ASAP.
So, in other words, George is an absolutely average, normal baby.
AMAZING.
So, this is a guy who went off for a stag weekend a few weeks after the babe’s birth. And now he is the greatest, most involved daddy????
My son-in-law is flying out of state to be in a wedding three weeks after my daughter’s due date. I don’t see anything wrong with that, it gives my daughter & I more time together with the new baby. And it’s not like Kate will be completely on her own, all by herself!
aw that was a really nice interview. i think he’s very genuine anddown to earth
Did anyone notice that his interview is being released on Harry’s birthday?
Same old same old. Poor Harry.
I seriously doubt that CNN took Harry’s birthday into consideration when they set the date for the broadcast.