The Princess of Wales once made an honest confession about an “isolating” time she went through after Prince George’s birth.
Becoming parents for the first time was a hugely exciting moment for the Prince and Princess of Wales, though it likely wasn’t without its challenges as they navigated their new life as a family-of-three with the attention of the world upon them. In the weeks after Prince George was born it’s understood that Prince William and Kate spent time in the privacy of the Middletons’ family home before returning to their home in Anglesey, Wales.
The couple had moved there in 2010 during Prince William’s time in the RAF and it’s understood that it was also Prince George’s first home before they moved to Kensington Palace soon after his birth. Since then they’ve left London and settled into life at Adelaide Cottage, though in 2020 Kate spoke very honestly about feeling “isolated” after becoming a mum for the first time.
She opened up during a visit to the Ely and Caerau Children’s Centre in Cardiff and reflected on how tricky it had been in the early days when George was “tiny”.
“I had just had George and William was still working with search and rescue, so we came up here when George was a tiny, tiny little baby, in the middle of Anglesey,” Kate explained. “It was so isolated, so cut off, I didn’t have my family around me, he was doing night shifts, so if only I’d had a centre like this at a certain time.”
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This was an incredibly open conversation for the Princess of Wales to have and her desire for a little more support from family, especially in the first weeks of Prince George’s life, is something that many new mums might relate to as well. Kate also reportedly turned to the late Queen Elizabeth for some advice at this time too.
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As reported by The Mirror, royal expert Katie Nicholl previously claimed on True Royalty TV’s documentary, Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again, that the Princess “confided” to Queen Elizabeth that she was finding it “hard”.
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“Kate was having a conversation with the Queen in which she confided that she had found being with George on her own, and not having a full-time nanny or a maternity nurse, very hard,” Katie alleged, before adding, “William and Kate wanted to be hands-on parents, and they did it until September and then they recruited a nanny.”
To this day the Wales family still employ a nanny – Maria Borrallo – to help with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis as they balance their full-time royal roles and parenting responsibilities. The Prince and Princess of Wales also ended up moving to Kensington Palace shortly after welcoming Prince George.
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This meant that the family were closer to not only Michael and Carole Middleton in Berkshire, but also members of the Royal Family who lived in and near to London. Despite not living in Wales since then and Kate finding it a bit “isolated” in 2013, they also have precious memories of their time in Anglesey too.
“I know that I speak for Catherine when I say that I have never in my life known somewhere as beautiful and as welcoming as Anglesey,” Prince William said at the time. “This island has been our first home together, and it will always be an immensely special place for us both. Catherine and I look forward to returning again and again over the coming years with our family.”