Even though Kate Middleton, like so many people, has been homeschooling her children on and off for nearly a year, there are still a few things she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of. In a video call, Roe Green Junior School’s headteacher Melissa Loosemore asked Kate and a group of parents from Brent to rate her skills at math on a scale from one to 10. While the other parents rated themselves at eight, Kate wrote that she is a negative five out of ten.
“I’m obviously right at the bottom!” she said bashfully when she saw the other results. Loosemore jokingly offered to send her home with some extra packets. When asked for one word that describes parenting during the pandemic, Kate wrote “exhausting,” but later said that Prince William has been her biggest source of support.
In 2018, Kate visited Roe Green to launch the Mentally Healthy Schools initiative, an online collection of children’s mental health resources. She checked in with some of the school’s parents on Tuesday to discuss her early childhood initiatives and the burden of parenting during the pandemic. “I know how challenging it is juggling work, home life, school life and everything else that you as parents are doing,” she said. “So really well done, Fingers crossed, let’s hope for the positivity as you’ve all been saying.”
She also confirmed earlier rumors that she has used her haircutting skills for her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—but the kids aren’t happy about it. “As parents, we have day-to-day elements of being a parent but, I suppose, during lockdown we’ve had to take on additional roles that others in our communities or in our lives would have helped us with,” she said. “I’ve become a hairdresser this lockdown, much to my children’s horror. We’ve had to become teachers. I, personally, feel pulled in so many different directions.” In the past, Kate has been open about her failures when it comes to braiding Charlotte’s hair.
Kate called from a well-decorated corner at Sandringham House on Queen Elizabeth’s Norfolk estate. In a conversation with nurses last week, Kate said the queen allowed her and William to use the house so one of them could work without distraction while the other helped their children with lessons at their home, Anmer Hall, which is a few miles away on the estate.
Kate concluded with a message reminding the parents to think about self-care. “It’s important for our children that we look after ourselves too,” she said. “Make sure everyone looks after themselves—it’s very hard to prioritize but it’s definitely needed now more than ever.”
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