Breaking: Prince William’s selfless act for Prince George as he follows in his mum Diana’s footsteps… See More

Prince William is a devoted father to his three children and is committed to providing them with a relatively ‘normal’ childhood – despite their extraordinary royal connections.

William and Princess Kate both work tirelessly to ensure Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are as grounded and down-to-earth as possible. And they have drawn on lessons from their own childhoods to help create a modern family unit.

For William, it’s all the more important for the trio to experience a degree of normalcy in their early years. He was raised in the knowledge that he will one day be King – just like his eldest son George. And before royal duties begin, William wants to ensure George and his siblings enjoy a typical upbringing, with the right emotional support around them.

“As far as we are concerned within our family unit, we are a normal family,” he said in 2016. “I love my children in the same way any father does and I hope George loves me the same way any son does his father. We are very normal in that sense.”

William is, however, also acutely aware of the immense responsibility his children will face in the future – and is keen to ensure they understand the importance of their roles and the power of their positions within society. To ensure that, he has leant on his own upbringing and the lessons he learnt from his mother, Princess Diana, in particular, and is keen that his children understand not everyone is as fortunate as they are and that some people “need a little bit of a helping hand”.

Much like the late Princess took William and Harry to homeless shelters when they were young, William intends to do the same with his own children to help George and his siblings also understand their privilege.

“My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from quite a young age, and I’m really glad she did,” he said earlier this year. Opening up about his plans to continue her legacy, he added, “I think when I can balance it with their schooling, they will definitely be exposed to it. On the school run, we talk about what we see. When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets and we’d talk about it.

“I’d say to the children, ‘Why are they there? What’s going on?’ I think it’s in all our interests, it’s the right thing to do, to expose the children, at the right stage, in the right dialogue, so they have an understanding.”

Royal expert Katie Nicholl believes it’s especially fitting that the Prince is passing his parents core values on to their grandchildren. “It wasn’t just Diana – Charles also wanted his sons to have a better understanding of life outside the Palace walls,” she told OK. “They both came from the same perspective of wanting to raise those boys with an understanding of normal life outside the confines of royal protocol.

“William and Kate’s children are probably more aware of homelessness than most children from privileged backgrounds, because it’s something their father campaigns passionately for and has done since he was 18. I think their eyes have been quite wide open from an early age – and that is largely because of William and Kate’s hard work.”