I spend too much time these days thinking about male athletes and female athletes and gender inequality in sports and how boys should be flat-out encouraged to have female role models. Few things give me more pleasure than reading stories about little boys who worship Serena Williams or Megan Rapinoe or Simone Biles. Those stories always make me feel like *some* parents are doing their jobs and not indoctrinating their kids with gender stereotypes early on, like “boys can only look up to male athletes.” So… I wonder about this story. Prince William apparently spoke to some people at the Diana Awards, and he told a story about how Prince George insults his little sister, basically, and how William had to tell George that Charlotte could end up being a better athlete than him. Or something.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are doting parents to three young children, and are doing all they can to make sure they lead as normal lives as possible. And on Tuesday afternoon, Prince William gave a rare insight into his family life while chatting to winners of The Diana Award at a tea hosted at Kensington Palace. The dad-of-three spoke to Olivia Hancock, 14, who was given an accolade for her work promoting equality among the sexes in football, and the conversation turned to his own experiences with his oldest children Prince George, six, and Princess Charlotte, four. She said: “So when I was chatting with Prince William he said to me, when he plays football with George and Charlotte, when Charlotte’s in goal George says to her that ‘Charlotte I’m better than you’.”
She said the Duke told his son: “‘George, Charlotte could be as good as you'”, adding: “It’s great to hear that Prince William is saying that to George.” William is also dad to one-year-old son Prince Louis, who will no doubt be joining in the football matches with his older siblings and dad in the near-future too.
As president of the Football Association, William supports the English national teams, men and women. He was proud of the Lionesses for going so far in the Women’s World Cup this year (the Lionesses lost in the semifinals to Team USA). So… I actually believe that William is supportive of women’s football, and probably vaguely supportive of female athletes. But George is exhibiting learned behavior, in addition to being kind of a d-bag to his little sister. Where did George pick this up? From school or the father who never goes to any of the women’s matches at Wimbledon? I know, I know, I’m reading too much into it. Plus, this is a story William told about himself, and who even knows if any of this really happened.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I can see George saying that and I don’t think it has anything to do with William – kids can be obnoxious at times and they pick it up from school, TV, or just human nature. It will be interesting to see if the kids play sports as they grow up. Did Harry and William ever play competitive sports when they were growing up, besides polo?
Exactly. Parents aren’t the only influence in kids’ lives. In fact, we are not nearly as big an influence as we think
I think they both played football & rugby in school, plus William did water polo at university.
I agree. This just sounds like kids being kids to me. There’s always innate competitiveness among siblings. Especially when an older sibling just feels like they *should* be better at everything than a younger sibling. Simply by virtue of being older. It often goes hand in hand with the jealousy siblings can feel when a younger sibling is getting more attention just because they’re younger and require more attention.
Not to say that I don’t feel it’s wholly possibly William was talking out his a**, telling a story that makes him look better.
Yeah, I think this has more to do with school friends. I taught K-3, and heard these “squabbles” ALL the time. And being a “little sister” of an obnoxious older brother, I also got this all the time from him.
Good on William for this, though. Boys NEED to be told/taught that girls/sisters are *just* as valued/good at things as they are.
I agree @Becks1 – I have three kids and they’re all competitive. They’re all boys so it’s sibling rivalry rather than gender.
I didn’t have siblings as a kid (one came later) but plenty of coed sports…soccer, softball, swimming…and yep the trash talk starts early. Still, good for William because George might be king someday and better to learn now that his words are more weighty.
I think it’s just an older kid trying to correct his younger sibling. I see it in any combo of genders. Because the younger one is less practiced but the older doesn’t understand this and is over critical.
Sibling dynamics are so fascinating. My son is intellectually very gifted, to the point where his younger sister was afraid to go to school or let him hear her read because she was afraid of not being as good. (Always a perfectionist, she didn’t let us see her walk, either, until she was 16 mos. because she didn’t want us to see her fall). She is very smart herself, but just different than him. She also is a k$ck a$$ swimmer and gymnast and very social, and he’s clumsy and awkward. Even though she would’ve hated being compared to him for reading, etc. she has no problem telling him she’s faster than him or stronger than him. We as parents have tried to teach them that we all have our own strengths, and to help them play to those strengths as much as possible.
TL;DR: trash talking between siblings is normal, even for peasants. 😁
That said, I have no problem believing that Will is a little bit sexist, and that he treats “his heir” differently, even if he and Kate claim otherwise…
Co sign. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I’m glad William corrected it.
For sure. I have 3, and both genders. They’re all young- the I’m better than you thing is innate human nature. Mine don’t watch anything other than what I put on, and I’m very much cognizant of the content and I’m right there with them. They got this somehow innately- and they do the boys are better/girls are better because, well- they pick on everything that’s different (one has blonde hair one has brown so brown is better/blonde is better, one has brown eyes one blue so brown is better/blue is better, and just naturally extends to gender, age etc.). Us parents obviously try so hard to be neutral and praise it all and correct them, and we hate it, and it’s at the heart of sibling fights and parents at their wit’s end 🙂
Exactly. There is nothing even remotely alarming about this. Siblings are both hyper-critical of one another AND fiercely loyal to each other if anyone else gets critical.
Kids in general are hyper-critical of other kids — which, lets face it, is a human trait rather than a juvenile one. The entire purpose of this website is to gather and critique famous people. So…
All parents can do is teach values, encourage natural empathy, and instill a moral obligation to help people who are weaker/less experienced/less talented/less advantaged/etc. Kids typically work all of this stuff out and come to understand basic decency by adulthood. George is fine, and it’s all very normal, and there’s no need to go into hysterics about how he’s just like his d-bag dad. Not yet, at least.
Kids can be turds. It doesn’t mean their parents are automatically the ones causing it. Schoolmates are a pretty big influence on kids, and if the other kids are acting like that, it IS a learned behavior, but it’s coming from peers and not parents.
I don’t know. Even the loveliest of kids occasionally are little shits to their siblings. The main thing is to correct the behavior when it happens, and it seems like that was done here.
“But George is exhibiting learned behavior, in addition to being kind of a d-bag to his little sister. ” lol what? That’s a normal competitive kid behavior. He didn’t say anything mean to her. Siblings /kids compete and even fight, nothing especially criminal about that.
I think kids do repeat things they hear, but that doesn’t mean George heard it or learned it from William. I think the fact he’s talking about pushing back against the idea indicates he didn’t. I’m not a particular fan of William’s, but the kid doesn’t live in a vacuum – he could easily pick up the attitude at school, from friends, from tv etc. I’ve heard from plenty of moms whose daughters are die hard Disney Princess obsessives in spite of their mind best efforts to steer them away from that. The indoctrination on sexist stuff like that is sneaky and pervasive
Yeah… you’re reading too much into it. Its standard kid behaviour / and probably from school and/or the fact that many children love to compare themselves and seek attention from people for their skills. Great that his Dad is using careful language when gently correcting him.
George’s taunts likely had far more to do with their difference in age than their differences in gender. My niece constantly points out to her younger brother that she’s taller, a better reader, and that she’s better at physical pursuits. I always tell her that that may be true now, but someday they’ll even out and he could be bigger/better. I really don’t think you should assume George is reflecting sexist behavior… he’s just being an older sibling.
Agreed. I bet both George and Charlotte tease Louis a little when he gets old enough to play with them.
Siblings are usually competitive with each other regardless of gender. George will probably do this to Louis as well. I don’t think they need to learn to compete with each other. It’s just human nature. William handled it well (if it’s even a true story. I don’t believe most of what comes out of the mouths of Royals or celebrities. Buncha phonies).
This is just part of the Cambridge goody-two-shoes PR campaign in the wake of Prince Andrew’s garbage life that’s threatening the Windsor family’s name and future. William and Kate have been pushing positive-PR ‘look how nice & woke we are’ articles for weeks now. Kate and her ‘secret hard work’ bla bla. And yet, William goes off to Kuwait to hang out with the same dudes Prince Andrew liked to hang out with for ‘business interests’. This family should be exposed in full.
I don’t…think? George is being a d-bag to his sister here? I don’t want to minimize it, but at this stage, it just seems like rather typical sibling banter, lol. They’re really kind of young, so why pigeon hole them right away.
Also, how exactly is this a great big defence of gender equality? I don’t get it. Yeah, Charlotte could very well be better than George. But like, this is the barest minimum sort of thing you’d raise your child with, no? That anyone can be better at anyone at almost anything, regardless of gender? I’m just really confused about this.
Speaking for myself, I’m really lucky to have a dad who cared deeply about having successful role models, regardless of gender. If you told him that some men don’t find successful women worthy of inspiration or admiration, he’d be flat out mystified by it. To him, excellence is excellence. It doesn’t matter who does it. I remember a couple of years ago that I had to tell him how some men don’t like women who are more educated or academically qualified than them, and he was aghast by the notion of it. He still jokes that he’d married my mom partially because she had completed grad school and he only had his bachelors, and he wanted to be around someone like that to give him inspiration to pursue his own goals. He isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination on gender issues, but on this, he’s always been bang on the money, and I’m grateful for it.
Sadly George will probably grow up just like his father. So…also please spare us with William trying to show compassion. The onslaught of abuse his sister in law gets and he says nothing. But at least hes bored with racism 🤷♀️
See, and THIS is where my brain went with the headline immediately. He recognizes a teaching moment that he needs to parent when his son is hyper critical of his daughter….but he can’t see a moment he needs to “parent” when the public goes after his own sister-in-law?
That’s where my brain instantly went, and I was sad to see that it wasn’t part of the commentary on this at all. I’m glad you said it, Guest.
Kids are so like that, I hate it 🙁 Most competitive athletic type kids I know are like this. Humility and kindness are learned slowly ….like slow like honey. My 7 year old nephew and friends sons make me wanta punt them with the braggy mean crap they tend to say to any slightly younger child. Including my three year old and it’s like I just wanta say yah …you’re older so you should be faster than her ya little douche. I do say that actually but I leave off douche.
Very normal. My sis had me convinced she was a witch. I love my sis. I am still the younger sis. That is so normal. Brothers are fun also. After the last month I am happy for all of them.
William told George “…Charlotte could be as good as you.” Ummm, wouldn’t a so called “woke” person tell their son that the daughter could be better than him? In terms of soccer ability I’m sure that Megan Rapinoe is well beyond “as good as” William.
Particularly in a family where his aunt and a female cousin were both Olympic athletes.
It sounds like sibling trash-talk. George is the oldest and being first does have its privileges. It doesn’t hurt that you’re in line to be King of England either.
I think it was a bit tacky of William to throw his own son under the bus to make himself look good. But if he’ll do it to his brother…
George is a kid and kids do this. There is always a one upmanship with kids so I don’t think there is anything weird about it, good on William for correcting it.
Another corollary to men uninterested in women’s sports is men who only rarely read a woman author. Same dynamic, too.
This is not learned behavior and totally in kids being kids. Kids recognize gender and sex on their own and usually go through periods of “girls are smarter” “boys are faster” “no girls allowed ” etc…. Totally natural and I think its bad parenting to come in and force them to be adults. Teasing and silly play within limits teaches social skills and builds character.
It could be that the children are already suffering from the subtle spare-heir dynamics that the palace (including their parents) is stamping on them from an early age. That practice is well documented (see upbringing Wiiliam and Harry). Children know when they are treated differently in the pecking order. This looks like William’s PR-machine at work (raise normal dad image).
My son is younger than his sister by a year and can be a real d bag (yep I said it) to her about pretty much everything. We are constantly on him about it. He picked it up from school and slightly older boys in our neighborhood (we don’t let him around the neighborhood boys anymore).
The only learned behavior G is exhibiting in that story is being a bratty older brother. It most likely has nothing to do with gender and asserting himself as “better” because he’s older and more coordinated.
His mom is pretty sporty as well, so I think he’ll be fine. I go through this all day every day with my older three kids. I’m trying to encourage them to be happy for each others’ strengths and supportive of the areas that need work…but kids are a-holes.