Prince George, Charlotte and Louis’ are kept ‘grounded’ by Princess Diana’s 'golden parenting rule' that Kate Middleton swears by

Kate Middleton has been heavily inspired by her late mother-in-law when it comes to parenting

Princess Diana, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
(Image credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images and Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Kate Middleton has many parenting rules when it comes to raising her three kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and one of the most important comes from the children's late grandmother Princess Diana.

Princess Diana may never have got the chance to meet her son Prince William's three young children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, but her influence on their lives and their upbringings is still massive - leading many to wonder why Charlotte was not directly named after Diana

The late grandmother, who passed away in 1997 and is buried at her childhood home had an incredibly hands-on parenting style when raising her kids Prince William and Prince Harry and her down-to-earth approach has encouraged William and Kate Middleton to be similarly involved in their kids' lives, putting nothing, not even their duties within The Firm, above their children. 

One parenting rule that Kate has adopted in honour of her mother-in-law was so important to Diana when she was raising William and Harry that it has come to be known as her 'golden rule.'

The golden rule, according to reports in The Sun, was to 'keep her children's feet on the ground.' For Diana, this meant exposing William and Harry to the lives of those less fortunate than them, often taking them with her to her many charitable engagements to see first hand others' struggles. 

Speaking about Diana's keenness to expose her sons to the realities of the world, royal author Andrew Morton, who collaborated with Diana on a biography of her life, told The Mirror, "She took the young royals with her on her private charity visits from a young age. One of the reasons was she didn't want the boys to grow up thinking the whole world was 4x4 Range Rovers, shotguns, and nannies."

Kate took a leaf out of Diana's book and did this with her children over Christmas in 2023, taking George, Charlotte and Louis to volunteer at Maidenhead baby bank where they helped pack toys to hand out as Christmas gifts. Louis gave away a treasured toy at the event which surely made his late grandmother proud. 

Another tactic Diana had to keep her children grounded was to ensure they wrote thank-you notes and always used good manners, two things Kate has also taught her kids to do. According to reports in The Mirror, a source previously revealed, "[William and Kate] have developed this brilliant knack of letting as much as they can seem spontaneous and that's how the children see it.

"Table manners, thank you letters, little courtesies are being drilled into the children so they become automatic." 

In other Royal news, the election could see the Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis take part in an unexpected activity, if the Conservatives get their way. The children also have their hearts set on a budget-friendly hotspot for a family break this year. And Prince George’s future career plans have a sweet connection to his uncle Prince Harry. 

News writer

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.