Why William and Kate are having 'difficult conversations' with Prince George

Prince William and Princess Kate have often spoken about how they parent their three children, whether it's their use of a 'chat sofa' or adopting a 'hands off approach' in order to give them freedom and independence. While reports claim that the couple is also having conversations with Prince George about the responsibility of his future role, it seems they are also ensuring that their eldest son is involved in discussions about important, serious matters now that he's a little older.

William opened up about this during Holocaust Memorial Day, when he met with survivors including Alfred Garwood and Sabina Kadic-Mackenzie. He explained: "George is getting to the age where he's starting to understand things. So, it's getting interesting to talk to him about what happened."

According to a report published in the New York Post last year, William and Kate took a similar approach when sharing news of the Princess' cancer diagnosis with their children. Grant Harrold, the former butler to King Charles, said: "I'm sure it was a very difficult and very different conversation between children. For instance, for Louis I’m sure the conversation was more sugarcoated than it was with George and Charlotte. The older children can understand more, so I’d imagine it was a little more frank but undoubtedly staying positive, which is so important."

Both William and Kate participated in remembrance events this week. Writing on Instagram afterwards, they shared: "A solemn moment of remembrance and hope for the future at today’s Holocaust Memorial Day service. Honoured to take part in this important event to commemorate the lives lost in the Holocaust and other genocides."

On the day, the royal couple were also able to reconnect with Holocaust survivors Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein, both of whom the Princess photographed with their grandchildren in 2020.

Speaking of the photographs at the time, Kate said: "I wanted to make the portraits deeply personal to Yvonne and Steven — a celebration of family and the life that they have built since they both arrived in Britain in the 1940s. The families brought items of personal significance with them which are included in the photographs."

The Princess continued: "It was a true honour to have been asked to participate in this project and I hope in some way Yvonne and Steven’s memories will be kept alive as they pass the baton to the next generation."

Over the years, Kate has been able to meet and forge strong bonds with several Holocaust survivors. As well as Yvonne and Steven, she first met a man named Manfred Goldberg in Poland in 2017, and he was then invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2022, when Kate was delighted to be reunited with him.