The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been enjoying Zoom quizzes with the Middleton family.
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
Prince William and his wife Duchess Catherine have been unable to spend as much time with their relatives as they usually like due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they have still been able to socialise virtually - though their evenings can get very competitive.
Catherine’s mother Carole Middleton told Good Housekeeping magazine: “Before the first lockdown, our son James and his fiancée moved in with us so we had a lot of quality time together.
“I obviously couldn’t see the rest of my family as much as I would have liked to, but we got good at doing video calls with each other.
“We did a lot of quizzes, like the rest of the country. We’re all very competitive!”
Carole, 66, is a “hands-on” grandmother to the couple’s children - Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and two-year-old Prince Louis - as well as her other daughter Pippa’s son Arthur, and loves getting messy with them.
She said: “I’m very hands on – I want to run down the hills, climb the trees, and go through the tunnel at the playground.
“As long as I am able to, that’s what we’ll be doing.
“I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides.”
However, she doesn’t meddle in how they raise their family because she knows they don’t want a “know-it-all granny”.
She added: “I feel it is my children’s role to pass on what they think is important to their children.
“That will happen, I suspect it will include a work ethic, because I know I have passed it on to my children.
“I have tried hard to be a listening grandmother and mother-in-law.
“That is why we are still close, because our relationship has evolved as my children have had children. I’ve learned to be a wise grandmother, I hope.
“I know how hard it was for me bringing up my own children, that you invest a lot in them and don’t really want a know-it-all granny out there.”
When it comes to her online business, Party Pieces, Carole values getting feedback and advice from her children.
She said: “I’m very family-orientated, so their feedback is so important to me.
“If they order something, they’ll tell me what they think of the buying process or how it’s delivered and they’ll tell me if they can’t find something they’re looking for, so I can consider expanding a range.
“As for many parents with grown-up children, they are my worst critics and most trusted advisers!”
But Carole – whose husband Michael, 71, has retired from co-running the firm – admitted her kids all poke fun at her surprising taste in music.
She said: “I quite like the new stuff. At the moment I get up and dance to Jess Glynne so the family tease me as I always put her on.
“People are often surprised to know that I love House music – something with a good beat – and so does Mike.”
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