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Prince George poses proudly in his new Eton College uniform, while a video shared online shows Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet settling into life in the UK.
There isn’t much common ground between Princes William and Harry these days. But one thing the estranged brothers have always quietly agreed on is that their children should have very different childhoods to their own.
These sweet moments on social media highlight the radically different approaches each has taken to protect their family — and reveal surprising new clarity on who may have got it right after all.
William and Harry’s past
Prince Harry, 42, has never hidden the pain of growing up in the spotlight, recalling press calls from a young age and a childhood lived under relentless scrutiny.
His early years felt like “a mix between The Truman Show and being in a zoo,” he told Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast.
“We parents, we should be doing the most we can to say, ‘You know what? That happened to me. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you,’” Harry said, describing his commitment to breaking what he called “genetic pain and suffering” passed down through generations.
One of these occasions was William’s own first day at Eton in 1995. The prince was joined by Harry, Princess Diana and Prince Charles for his arrival.
Hundreds of members of the press and public were also on hand to wintess the historic occasion.
Something needed to change but how the two brothers have gone about achieving that aim could not be more different.
The William way: Reforming the system
As the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 44, flanked their elder son, Prince George, on his first day at Eton College on September 8, William showed that he didn’t need to flee the royal fold to rewrite the script.
The heir to the British throne has worked tirelessly from within to give his children as normal, steady and grounded an upbringing as possible.
And the proof of his success was written across the happy, confident face of his eldest child as George, 13, began high school — a moment that felt deeply traditional, yet quietly modern.
George made his public debut the day after his birth in July 2013 in front of a large press pack on the steps of the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, just like his father before him. But that’s where the similarities with William’s childhood ended.
Gone are the large, formal press calls with dozens of photographers that defined the milestone moments of William and Harry’s early years.
Instead, Kensington Palace now releases curated family and single portraits on birthdays and special occasions to satisfy public interest in George, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8.
In their younger years, many of these snaps were taken by Kate herself, ensuring the children felt comfortable and in control.
The Wales kids appear in public regularly enough to feel familiar, yet infrequently enough to preserve the boundaries their parents have fought to establish.
The Harry and Meghan way: Total control
In contrast, the Sussexes took a far more radical approach by stepping away from royal duties and the rota system entirely and relocating to California to achieve complete control over their family life.
While it might seem that we see the Wales children often, we actually get more images of their cousins — just not in the traditional way.
Meghan might not release regular first‑day‑of‑school snaps of Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, but pictures of the Sussex family are plentiful.
Whether they’re on holidays, sharing moments together at home, or visiting their late grandmother’s grave at Althorp, nothing is off limits when it comes to Archie and Lili appearing on their mother’s personal Instagram account and her As Ever business page, where she promotes her jam, wine and homewares.
While these shots are taken from behind or with faces obscured, they are arguably much more intimate and private than anything we see of the Wales children.
With the Sussexes returning to Britain — and Meghan dropping another large cache of family photos in a reel online — Harry may well be pondering whether William’s quieter, more controlled approach was the better path all along.
Read more expert opinion and analysis in WHO’s The Royal Verdict with Kylie Walters here.
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