17 times Kate Middleton was just a regular mom

When Kate hopped a recent commercial flight with her younger kids, Charlotte, 7, and Louis, 4, an excited fellow passenger shared a recap on TikTok and it was pure mom realness—well, aside from the security detail and nanny. @turbom1k3y wrote: "Could get a private jet or helicopter but keeping it simple. Flying economy. She even got up halfway through the flight to get her daughter's iPad." Because on a trip to great-grandma's house (that's Balmoral Castle in Scotland, in their case), you've got to keep the kiddos entertained. The poster added: "And yes she was stunning, even gave me a smile while looking back at row behind her to talk to her son." 

Turns out the Duchess of Cambridge can be a bit of a mamarazzi—just like us! Kate loves taking pictures of her kids; in fact, she's the one who shoots their annual birthday portraits. But like a regular mom, her kids are sometimes totally over it. In the final episode of her conversation series with participants of the Hold Still photography project, Kate remarked how sometimes she can go a bit overboard with the photos. "It's like me," she said while talking to a mom whose husband says she takes too many photos of her family. "Everyone's like, 'Mummy, please stop taking photographs!'" Speaking from experience, we have a feeling that's not going to stop her!

We know, we know, it’d probably be more relatable if she had to run to the store last minute to buy a sheet cake that has the kid’s name spelled wrong on it, but there are moms out there who do bake cakes for their kids’ birthdays. According to Hello!, Kate revealed in Mary Berry’s 2019 Christmas special, A Berry Royal Christmas, that baking the kids’ cakes has become a treasured tradition for her. “I love making the cake,” she told the famous UK chef. “It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up ’til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much. But I love it.” We’re dying to see what those cakes ended up looking like, aren’t you? We also love that she admitted to using cake mix, just like a regular mom. Bravo, Kate! During the special, she also revealed that one of Prince Louis’ first words was “Mary” because he’d see Berry’s cookbooks which sit on the shelf in the kitchen that is just his height. So cute!

Kate and William are regulars at school drop-off for Prince George and Princess Charlotte, especially now that Charlotte attends the same school as her big brother. In October 2019, the royal couple even made sure to have enough time in the morning to drop the kids off at Thomas’s Battersea before flying out for a five-day royal tour of Pakistan. 

In a visit to the Aga Khan Centre in London, Kate mentioned to former MasterChef winner Saliha Mahmood Ahmed that she loves to make curry, but she often finds herself whipping up multiple versions to suit her family’s needs. “It’s so hard cooking curry with the family, though. The children have a portion with no spice,” she said, before turning to her husband and noting, “yours is medium.” Of her own personal preference, she added, “I quite like it hot.” All parents who cook for their families know that making three different versions of the same dish is no easy task. Good to know that even princesses struggle through that, too.

Kate had a special date with her littlest royal, Prince Louis, on Valentine’s Day, and it went down in plain view! With the almost-eight-month-old bundled in a pom-pom hat and footmuff, the duchess pushed her umbrella stroller through Hyde Park, wearing a mom uniform we’re all intimately familiar with—leggings, a puffer jacket and a pair of sneakers (hers were New Balance, btw). It’s a royal rite of passage, according to Hello!, who reported that the royal has taken all of her kiddies to feed the ducks at the park’s pond. An excited fan even caught the sweet moment and posted it to Instagram.

Kate is a busy mom, chasing after two active kids and taking care of baby Louis. So it’s no wonder that when taking George and Charlotte back-to-school shoe shopping she forgot one important thing—socks. According to a source at Hello!, the duchess took the kids to Peter Jones in London, to get their school shoes (George has to wear a uniform at Thomas’s Battersea). Both the kids were in sandals, but thankfully the shop let them borrow socks to try on their new shoes. We must admit we were shocked—not that Kate was forgetful, because we all are, but that George wasn’t wearing socks. We swear the little prince sleeps in his signature knee socks!

Kate has a very impressive (and expensive!) wardrobe, but even she uses her clothes as a spit cloth. While visiting George’s namesake bilby in Sydney, Australia, the combination of excitement and teething led to some serious drooling for the little prince. But that was no issue for the duchess, who simply wiped it all on her dress—which was made by a private dressmaker, in case you were wondering. Princesses really are just like us!

It’s the worst when your kid decides to throw an epic tantrum in public. For Kate, this situation is even more mortifying—the media is there, capturing the meltdown for the world to see. As the Cambridge family was preparing to leave Germany after a royal tour, you could tell Charlotte was tired as she was rubbing her eyes. And then she had a fit and threw herself to the ground, as most two-year-olds do. But super-mummy-Kate was having none of it. After trying to redirect Charlotte’s attention away from the book she wanted but couldn’t have, Kate simply picked her daughter up from the ground and continued on like nothing happened. Sometimes you just have to ignore the madness.

Read more: 10 parenting rule Kate Middleton swears by

Just a day after having Prince George, Kate and William stepped outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital to show off their new baby—and everyone couldn’t help but notice the duchess’s bump. Kate didn’t try to hide her postpartum belly, instead she embraced it in an empire waist, polka dot dress by Jenny Packham. Every mom—princess or not—has a “mummy tummy” after birth, though must of us don’t look quite as glamorous as Duchess Catherine did right after delivery.

Who doesn’t want that perfect photo where your whole family is matching in one colour? Kate had her crew looking smashing in blue when they left Poland after a mini royal tour. Except, like in every family photo, the kids didn’t really cooperate. While the Duchess looks lovely, George is making quite the face and Charlotte is more interested in something on the ground than she is the camera. Picture-perfect moment, really!

Like all moms, Kate has many tantrum tactics in her arsenal, including the classic scolding. At sister Pippa’s wedding in May 2017, George, likely overwhelmed by the long day and a bit bored by the ceremony, started acting up. Kate was having none of it and gave him a royal telling off—she even wagged her finger at him. George, like a typical preschooler burst into tears, but Kate held strong and took him into the corner until he started behaving again. So the next time your kid throws a fit at a family function, remember even the Duchess of Cambridge has to deal with this.

Comfort is key when you’re pregnant, and elastic waistbands are great for your growing belly. Even the Duchess of Cambridge agrees. She rocked a pair of black and white sweats from Monreal London while playing tennis with some kids during her third pregnancy. See, Kate is very smart—if you buy stylish loungewear, you can wear it in public and everyone thinks you look so chic, while you are just wildly comfy. 

On May 2, just hours after welcoming Princess Charlotte, the Duke and Duchess stepped outside of the Lindo Wing to show the world their new daughter. Even though the newborn was wrapped in a wool blanket and knit bonnet, Kate still worried she would catch a chill, whispering to Wills, “Do you think she’s cold?” William replied, “She’s fast asleep.” Such a relatable nervous mom moment!

Life as a new mom is hectic, and sometimes self-care falls way down the priority list. Kate definitely showed that in November 2013 while supporting Poppy Day. Her hair was in its usual gorgeous blowout, but she was sporting some noticeable greys at her roots. While the world’s media freaked out about the perfect princess's few greys, any mom paying attention certainly understood that the busy, and probably overwhelmed, new parent likely hadn’t had time to go the salon.

Kate just seems so perfect, and she looked so perfect when she first stepped out after giving birth to little George, but the duchess admitted she felt overwhelmed by motherhood. “Nothing can really prepare you for the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother,” she said in a speech. Later in a video interview while talking to William, she reminisced, “Remember the first few days with little George, you have no idea what really you are doing, no matter how many books you read, nothing can prepare you for it.” 

Due to her extreme morning sickness, Kate was too unwell to take George to his first day of school at Thomas’s Battersea—and her little prince looked a little lost without his mum. Kate was likely at home worrying. During a speech a few months later she admitted, “As a mother, just getting used to leaving my own child at the school gates, it is clear to me that it takes a whole community to help raise a child.”  It does, but you definitely never get used to leaving your kid, Kate… even after you’ve done it about 1,000 times.