Little white lies! Duchess Kate and Prince William homeschooled Prince George, 6, and Princess Charlotte, 4, straight through spring break.
“Don’t tell the children but we’ve actually kept it going through the holidays,” the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, told the BBC on Thursday, April 16. “I feel very mean.”
Her husband, 37, added that homeschooling has been “fun,” while Kate went into detail on their little ones’ “stamina.”
“I don’t know how they get it done honestly,” she explained. “You sort of pitch a tent, take the tent down again, cook, bake [and] you get to the end of the day. They’ve had a lovely time, but it’s amazing how much they can cram into a day, that’s for sure.”
The couple, who also share their 23-month-old son, Prince Louis, are being open with their brood about the coronavirus pandemic.
“George is much older than Louis is, but they are aware,” the duchess told the outlet. “I think I’m always surprised. Although you don’t want to scare them and make it too overwhelming, I think it is appropriate to acknowledge it in simple ways and age-appropriate ways.”
Earlier this month, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that Kate was “always against” homeschooling her kids but “doesn’t have any choice” amid the COVID-19 spread.
“St Thomas’s school is closed due the COVID-19 pandemic and George and Charlotte are being taught online at Anmer Hall,” the insider explained. “When it comes to running quality online education, St Thomas’s is up there with the best.”
The source added, “Being educated from home is a shock to the system for [them]. To begin with, they were easily distracted and wanted to play together instead of sitting at a computer, but Kate’s now got them into a routine. … [She] is mainly in charge of the home schooling and playtimes, but William is also very involved too.”
Us confirmed in March that the royal couple’s children were going to be homeschooled. A spokesperson for Thomas’s London Day Schools announced at the time: “Due to the increasing numbers of children and staff being absent from school due to the Coronavirus situation, Thomas’s London Day Schools have decided to move to remote learning from Friday 20 March. From this date the curriculum will be taught through online learning platforms and we have asked parents to keep their children at home and to access their lessons through this system. This will ensure that children have continuity of learning when they are unable to attend school.”