It may come as a surprise to you to read, but this weekend a four-year-old got a bit bored and restless at a family event. Yes. This is earth shattering news.
— Boom the Brazen Hussy (@TheDuchessBoom) June 5, 2022
Essentially, much of the press has focused on the antics of Prince Louis at the Queen’s assorted jubilee events. Antics such as pulling faces, chatting with family members, climbing on his parents and clapping in a slightly silly way. To say his great grandma owns a number of multimillion-pound, jewel-encrusted hats and he probably has a playroom the size of most people’s houses, this has to be one of the most ‘normal’ things about the fifth in line to the throne.
And yet, there was some pretty miserable coverage of his behaviour.
Prince Louis seemed distracted once again at Jubilee celebrations as the Duchess of Cambridge tried to keep him focused on the pageant in front of him.
The young prince was more interested in chatting to family members behind him.
Read more: https://t.co/CIU9NXaZWc pic.twitter.com/aHfgQAFgUl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 5, 2022
“Seemed distracted” is very heavily weighted in this headline. Certainly hinting that it was not acceptable in the eyes of Sky News. Whilst this is a ridiculous connection to make:
Prince Andrew in the making
— orange valtra (@AlasdairMarsha1) June 5, 2022
And then there is this:
The News.com.au has not had much experience of four-year-olds if they think this was wild. But the real kicker is the end of that subtitle. “And it has called Kate Middleton’s parenting into question” is ridiculous. It’s not like she let him draw on the Queen’s face in Sharpie. He’d been sitting watching boring adult stuff for an eternity in the eyes of a young kid, being a bit silly is pretty much expected. It’s not a parenting thing, it’s a mild kid thing.
And there’s an elephant in the room here too. Kate Middleton’s parenting? The boy has two parents and they were both in attendance. Why is is it just her responsibility to parent? This sort of outdated attitude may explain why they thought his behaviour was ‘wild’.
Whether you are the keenest fan of the Royals who has spent the weekend eating red, white and blue sandwiches in your Union Jack boxer shorts or you’re an ardent republican, this isn’t about the pomp and circumstance, it’s about parent shaming and it’s not okay. Kids are kids. As long as they’re not hurting anyone or weeing on another guest’s shoes, let them have some fun. He’ll have to pretend to enjoy thousands more public events in his life so let him have this one.
0 Comments