Kate Middleton's 'Mary Poppins' Parenting Is Rubbing Off On Prince George

It’s been Kate’s first full year as a mother, and from those tired-but-happy poses outside the maternity hospital to the way she dashed about after a wilful soon-to-be-toddler at the polo recently we’ve caught some telling glimpses of her parenting style.

Historically, royal mothers tend to come in two key varieties: 'Hands-off and formal’ or ‘hands-on, doting and anxious’ as they battle the pressure of juggling royal protocol and etiquette on the one hand and a small child with a mind of its own on the other.

With her 'commoner' background and lack of royal experience before she met William it would have been easy to see Kate in the ‘doting-and-anxious’ category.  But her body language signals so far suggest that managing the undeniable handful that is two royal princes has activated her inner Mary Poppins.

So far she's revealed traits of energy, firmness and humour, combined with the kind of contagious confidence that is already reflecting in baby George’s boisterous fearlessness and desire to explore and get stuck in.

Conquering the UXB

At the outset, both William and Kate held baby George in the usual new parent style, i.e. as though they were holding an unexploded bomb.

William looked more anxious lifting that baby carrier into the car than he must ever have looked flying helicopters during air-sea rescues.

But since then Kate’s carrying style has looked a lot more practical and relaxed. From the time baby George was able to sit up and pay attention Kate seems to have been confident enough as a first time mother to allow him to greet the world on his own terms.

Kate usually carries her son high up and front-facing, giving him the freedom to make his own assessment of situations, roaring into rooms or even formal events like his own christening with Kate’s one arm around his torso but otherwise unhampered. And that certainly explains why we've seen him being so adventurous and keen to explore.

Contagious confidence

Babies inherit many early personality traits via body language mimicry. William was a bit of a scamp as a toddler but he also inherited a tendency for shyness from both of his parents.

William has been a very hands-on dad so far at keynote royal events but none of those diffidence signals seem to be rubbing off on what it looking like the most confident of royal babies to date. And that lack of shyness must be in part down to Kate’s assured-looking, energetic parenting.

In New Zealand he entered a roomful of other strange children wriggling his hands and kicking legs to signal a focused desire to get off and play.

Like most mums, Kate is clearly taking charge at present, but even the pressure of caring for a future king doesn't seem to have phased her. There are no apparent anxiety signals like constant face-checking of George to monitor his emotions or anxiety displays over worries he might cry.

A window, a toddler, a dog AND perfect hair

Yes, there might have been an army of stylists and dog trainers lurking underneath that window sill ensuring George looked gurgling and happy while Lupo looked brave and proud.

But the pose managed to look natural enough, and Kate managed to look happy, natural and calm, which is magic enough in itself.

Mopping up drool with her hand (or so it seems)

Yes really, not a scented hankie with a royal crest! Bu this is where Kate’s Poppins-style behaviour might have some new parents growling. Most newbie mums feel like pack horses, pushing huge buggies carrying twice their own body weight in wipes, bottles, nappies, toys and treats.

And while we've been led to believe that Kate can do it all with one deft hand movement and no pockets, we're guessing she travels with a baby-support entourage. And a quick glimpse of her helpers might be nice to show she really isn't superwoman.

Permanent good humour

Of course her official engagements call for smiles but so far there hasn’t been one small flicker of body language leakage to suggest Kate is anything other than jolly and upbeat about motherhood.

In the most recent shots at polo the baby prince is clearly proving to be quite a handful, toddling rather than just crawling and looking more demanding than ever before.

But Kate seems more than able to rise to the new demands, dressing casually in jeans for the more active role of mum to a toddler.

She manages to chat to a friend, blow kisses and keep up a dialogue with George, all while the tot crawls around her legs, even trying to get her attention by tugging the leg of her jeans at one point.

And no doubt she's very aware of all those camera lenses trained on her.

Of course there are several more milestones for Kate that might stretch her parenting skills to the limit, think ‘baby’s first tantrum in public’, but so far she’s steered a positive, capable-looking course.

But will we ever know what really goes on behind the scenes? Perhaps the only hint so far was Mike Tindall’s telling of the time his baby Mia went on a play date with Prince George. ‘Carnage’ was his description, so maybe life as a royal mother is more refreshingly normal backstage than Kate might make it seem in public.

We can hope anyhow!

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