Kate Middleton’s parenting move may be her oldest trick in the book—we’ve seen her use it again and again. Now Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, is borrowing the trick.
Last week, while meeting students from Golspie Primary School during a visit to the village of Golspie in Scotland, Duchess Sophie pulled a Princess Kate and got down at eye level with the kids.
Kneeling down to meet the children at their vantage point is a pro move—early childhood educators often use it to make kids feel at ease and to establish trust and rapport. (Experts say it may even stop kids from whining.) Princess Kate frequently uses it with her own kids, and even Prince William has pulled out the move in her current absence.
Even if she didn’t learn it from the Duchess of Wales, it’s no surprise Sophie is familiar with this strategy—after all, she has two children of her own, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.
Not for nothing, PureWow editors have previously speculated that Kate may have learned the trick from her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, who had been photographed doing the same thing in the ’90s. (In any case, it’s a good way for the royal family members to refrain from coming off too authoritative.)
About a week prior to her visit to Golspie, Duchess Sophie and her husband, Prince Edward, made a special trip to Rutland to pay a visit to the brand-new Queen Elizabeth II statue in Oakham Library Gardens. The occasion was significant, as they were the first senior members of the royal family to get an in-person view of the recently unveiled memorial, which features the late queen and three of her beloved corgis.
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