Meghan and harry

If smacking children works then how come it was always the same boys at school who were caned? It never seemed to deter them.

I was never smacked either.

As for expecting a 4 year old to respect his mother, I'm not too sure that they understand respect.

As has been said this is how children learn.

Louis was a bundle of fun

Germanshepherdsmum

I am of the generation which did smack children, and it worked - but nothing like how I was, in my father's words 'thrashed'. That I will never forget.

I am of the generation which did smack children, and it worked

Because you end up with a cowed child who is more frightened of their parent(s) than respectful of them.

Not everyone smacked their children, even when I was a child. I was not smacked, it didn't result in me behaving badly in public.
Except one momentous occasion when I was about two or three, apparently.

For goodness sake Louis is 4 yrs old and up to this point had been brilliant.
He had had such restricted days as had all the royal children.
I find it refreshing to see them behave like all children do.Lena squabbling with sister Mia completely normal,well it is in our house anyway.George does appear on edge and lacking in confidence but when on 1:1 with parents his natural self shows through.
Love the way they all greet and play with their cousins. Just very normal children
Harry and Megan appeared to have been treated as they had requested and lovely for the Queen to see her GGC .I'm sure there will be photos of all the family at Lillibets birthday just not published.

25Avalon

Just after Kate released photos of Prince Louis ‘star of the show.’ Bitchy remark over, Lilibet is a lovely looking little girl with a full set of pearly teeth. The public would just like to see the odd picture now and again and one of Archie. Don’t we all have a photo of our little loved ones to show occasionally? H and M will never be completely private.

yes I noticed a full set of pearly teeth

Children at one have two to four teeth at most

Louis was removed before the family left as film showed them without him. I don't think William favours George, I think he just kept out of it and let Catherine and Nanny deal with a fractious Louis, it didn't need William to join in and make a potentially difficult situation worse.

I taught four year old children for many years (and five year olds, six year olds, and seven year olds, but not all at the same time) and I know that four year old children cannot sit still for longer than appropriately ten minutes, fifteen if you’re lucky. They need to be active, which is why learning situations in schools are organised so that they are active during their learning. They are not expected to sit still and soak it all up like a sponge. They can’t do that, their bodies and brains are still developing and sitting still and simply looking and listening is almost impossible for them. These are skills that need to be developed which is why young children attend nursery schools and classes. Louis is at nursery and his learning opportunities will be geared towards his age, maturity, and ability. Clearly expecting him to sit still and watch a pageant (not one geared to the interests of a very young child) is too much for him, or his three year old cousin Lena too. He is obviously a very lively child, and probably thrives on lots of physical activity, something which will be available to him at home and at nursery. I thought his behaviour at the pageant was to be expected of a lively four year old. I feel sure that at home he might have been sent to the naughty step for a few minutes and also possibly made to say he was sorry, or some other appropriate sanction would have been applied. Given the circumstances I think Catherine dealt with the situation as well as she possibly could have done.

I watched the clip earlier and I really didn’t see anything that bad. If people think that was a tantrum, then they should see my 4yo GD’s strops when she’s on high-dose steroids for her asthma!

I don’t believe Louis was disrespectful - he’s four, he probably hasn’t ever heard the word! He was being challenging, which is a stage that many, many children go through and Catherine looked as though she was managing it as best she could in front of a world audience.

It’s true that maybe the parade was the wrong thing for Louis but sometimes you don’t know in advance. I remember taking one of mine to Edinburgh zoo and they refused to look at any of the animals, sitting in the buggy periodically grumping and moaning. I didn’t take her home because tickets were expensive and I wanted to look at things! We all survived, I’m just glad that GN didn’t exist then when someone might have started a thread to complain about a badly behaved child at the zoo.

Calendargirl

Remember a quote someone said to me years ago at a PTA meeting.

“The best parents are those who have never had children”.

???? very good!

I am of the generation which did smack children, and it worked - but nothing like how I was, in my father's words 'thrashed'. That I will never forget.

Louis was removed because it was all but over and he had to do a balcony appearance. They all went.

I think he already knows a bit about respect. He certainly respects the Queen and didn’t play up for Charles. If they don’t mix their kids between them when in public they’ll create a ‘ good boy, naughty boy,’ situation.

If I was Kate I’d say, ‘YOU can have him next time.’

I don't think 4 year old know much if anything about respect?! Louis is very lively by all accounts and as has been said, Catherine was firm with him as we saw and when he was cheeky again there were consequences as he was quietly removed. Totally correct way to handle boisterous behaviour with the minimum of fuss. We never ever smacked our children or even raised our voices, as it simply didn't work, but we did remove them to their bedrooms if they insisted, which is, I suppose is the equivalent of the naughty step!

Calendargirl

Remember a quote someone said to me years ago at a PTA meeting.

“The best parents are those who have never had children”.

??????

Hilarious

Remember a quote someone said to me years ago at a PTA meeting.

“The best parents are those who have never had children”.

volver

Just me then. (and maybe GSM )

To expect children not to disrespect their mothers in public, whether they are 4 or 40.

This is where, in normal circumstances, a father would more than likely step in.

None of my children would have behaved like Louis and if they had, a stern look from their dad would have stopped them in their tracks.

Charles did his bit to help but William only seems to want to be with George.

Mike Tindall is my kind of Dad. ?

We are ad idem volver.

GagaJo

volver he was being a pain. But he had been put in a situation that was not suitable for a 4 year old. No 4 year old would be able to sit there for as long as he had to, without resorting to some sort of bored behaviour. I'm not sure why they didn't have a contingency in place. A sneaky tablet for him to watch. Or a nanny to hand him off to.

My DGS is 4. He would have been climbing over the edge way before the time when Louis started to act up.

A sneaky tablet? ?

??

Humans are not born knowing respect.

He was given once chance to correct his behavior. When he did it again, he was removed.

Thay is how kids learn. By being allowed to make not the best decisions and experience consequences for those decisions without judgment or shame.

It would be really weird at 40 but not that unusual at 4. He was told off. Similar will happen a thousand times a day across the country.

eazybee

Did Louis thumb his nose at his mother more than once?
I saw a photograph of him doing it, I saw his mother speaking severely to him, and he didn't appear to do it again.
Which is how you treat four year olds when they show off.

Twice. Just after he'd put his hand over her mouth a couple of times to stop her talking, and pushed her away.

Which is how you treat your mother if you don't respect them.

Did Louis thumb his nose at his mother more than once?
I saw a photograph of him doing it, I saw his mother speaking severely to him, and he didn't appear to do it again.
Which is how you treat four year olds when they show off.

Nanny was there, and she did take Louis over. P.C reminded me of my own stepfatber when placating my son , it works for a minute or two, but then??!! There was no bad behaviour ,just boredom, tiredness and too much jubilee.children thrive on routine,and his had been well and truly turned on its head. I thought the Queen was sweet with him on the balcony.

Just me then. (and maybe GSM )

To expect children not to disrespect their mothers in public, whether they are 4 or 40.

imaround good post.

His behavior was normal for a 4 year old in that position, not bad.

The only thing "bad" here was the decision to put a 4 year old in a position he was not mature enough for.

All.parents make bad decisions at times. You learn and move on.

I am glad that I am able to raise my kids in a time when it is ok for kids to behave like kids and not mini adults.