Princess Kate has shared an insight into the personalities of her three young children, as Princess Anne revealed that their family’s sporting competitiveness may well have passed down to the Wales siblings.
Kate and Prince William are parents to Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, whom they spoke about in a surprise appearance on Mike Tindall’s podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.
They were also joined by Mike’s mother-in-law the Princess Royal, who chimed in when Mike asked the Waleses if their natural competitive nature had been inherited by their children, as she replied: “Just a little bit, I would suggest!”
Kate then explained: “What I think is really interesting is that they are all obviously very different temperaments. And as they are growing and trying out different sports, they’re obviously still really young, it’s going to be interesting to see how that grows and develops.”
She added that her daughter was now able to play football and rugby at school, sports that weren’t available for girls at school when she was Charlotte’s age.
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Kate was encouraged in her sporting pursuits by her parents Carole and Michael Middleton, as she played field hockey at school and now says she enjoys swimming.
During her visit to Maidenhead Rugby Club in June the Princess claimed she regularly plays rugby with her children now, with Rugby Football Union president Nigel Gillingham saying: “Apparently Charlotte is very much in [Kate’s] mould, very competitive as well apparently.”
Sports run in the Royal Family, with both Princess Anne and her daughter Zara Tindall even reaching Olympic glory in their equestrian careers.
The podcast’s co-host James Haskell revealed that Mike had let slip his nickname for Kate, as he often compares her to Monica from the sitcom Friends.
He said: “I’m not going to lie but Mike has made out both of you are super, super competitive – a bit like Monica from Friends – and if you guys play table tennis it will go on for hours and hours, and be like, double or quits.”
To which Kate replied: “I’m really not that competitive. I don’t know where this has come from.”
The husband and wife joked that they can never finish a game of tennis if they play together as it becomes a “mental challenge” between the two of them.
When quizzed as to where her love of sport came from, Kate responded: “I suppose as a family we were just very active. And I can always remember being physical, using our bodies, whether it’s walking, climbing the lake district in Scotland (or) swimming from a young age.
“(Our parents) always encouraged us to be physically active and sporty and they always encouraged us into doing team sports and trying things.”
