It’s not often that we get to hear directly from the Duchess of Cambridge, but her most recent interview is perhaps the royals most personal yet. Appearing on the podcast, Happy Mum, Happy Baby, Kate Middleton opens up about motherhood – revealing her feelings on mum guilt and her special bond with her three children.
Watch Below: Kate Middleton Opens Up About Her Birth Experience With Prince George
Kate was appearing on the podcast to promote her groundbreaking UK initiative, “5 Big Questions on the Under Fives,” which is a survey that will be active for a month, and experts from Ipsos Mori will then use the data to formulate a report for the Royal Foundation. The findings are expected to help guide Kate in her public work in the area for many years ahead.
When asked if she ever suffers from “mum guilt”, the 38-year-old responded: “Yes, absolutely — and anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying!”
“All the time,” she told host Giovanna Fletcher. “You know, even this morning, coming to the nursery visit here, George and Charlotte were like, ‘Mummy, how could you possibly not be dropping us off at school this morning?’”
Kate and husband Prince William share three children – Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 21 months.
“It’s a constant challenge — you hear it time and time again from mums, even mums who aren’t necessarily working and aren’t pulled in the directions of having to juggle work life and family life,” Kate added.
“There’s always something to feel guilty over,” podcast host Fletcher responded.
“Exactly!” Kate agreed. “And always sort of questioning your own decisions and your own judgements and things like that, and I think that starts from the moment you have a baby!”
During the podcast appearance, the royal also opened up on a new photograph she had taken of Princess Charlotte – which she shared held “special meaning”.
She shared, “I’ve got this one photo of Charlotte smelling a bluebell, and it’s moments like that which mean so much to me as a parent. I try everyday to put moments like that in even if I don’t have time…but that in an ideal world is what I would like to do.”
Kate didn’t just stop there, she also spoke openly about the intense morning sickness she battled during all three of her pregnancies – something she has very rarely spoken on.
“It was fine. I got very bad morning sickness, so I’m not the happiest of pregnant people.”
“Have you had it every time or just the first time?” Fletcher asked.
“Yes, unfortunately. Lots of people have it far, far worse, but it was definitely a challenge,” Kate said. “Not just for me but also for your loved ones around you – and I think that’s the thing – being pregnant and having a newborn baby and things like that, impacts everybody in the family.”
“You know, William didn’t feel he could do much to help and it’s hard for everyone to see you suffering without actually being able to do anything about it.”
To help battle her severe morning sickness, Kate took it upon herself to learn the “hypnobirthing” method for all three of her deliveries.
Kate immediately connected with hypnobirthing, which involves various relaxation and self-hypnosis techniques to help relax the body before and during labour and birth. Classes generally teach participants to practice and use a combination of music, visualization, positive thinking and words and even prompts from partners to relax the body and control sensations during labour.
“It was through hyperemesis that I really realised the power of the mind over the body because I really had to try everything and everything to try and help me through it,” Kate said.
“There are levels of it,” she continued. “I’m not going to say that William was standing there sort of, chanting sweet nothings at me. He definitely wasn’t! I didn’t even ask him about it, but it was just something I wanted to do for myself.”
Finally, Kate opened up about how “terrifying” it was to step out for her first post-birth photocall after welcoming Prince George in July 2013.
“Yeah, slightly terrifying, slightly terrifying, I’m not going to lie,” Kate told Fletcher of stepping out for the photo call to debut George to the world.
Kate went on to explain why she decided to keep the post-baby photo call tradition alive, in spite of her own anxieties about it: “Everyone had been so supportive and both William and I were really conscious that this was something that everyone was excited about and, you know, we’re hugely grateful for the support that the public had shown us, and actually for us to be able to share that joy and appreciation with the public, I felt was really important. But equally, it was coupled with a newborn baby, and inexperienced parents, and the uncertainty of what that held, so there were all sorts of mixed emotions.”
It’s not often that we get to hear directly from the Duchess of Cambridge, but her most recent interview is perhaps the royals most personal yet. Appearing on the podcast, Happy Mum, Happy Baby, Kate Middleton opens up about motherhood – revealing her feelings on mum guilt and her special bond with her three children.
Watch Below: Kate Middleton Opens Up About Her Birth Experience With Prince George
It’s not often that we get to hear directly from the Duchess of Cambridge, but her most recent interview is perhaps the royals most personal yet. Appearing on the podcast, Happy Mum, Happy Baby, Kate Middleton opens up about motherhood – revealing her feelings on mum guilt and her special bond with her three children.
Watch Below: Kate Middleton Opens Up About Her Birth Experience With Prince George
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