The Wales Children's Nanny Is Probably "Quite Chummy" With Princess Kate, Expert Claims
They're more like partners than employer and employee.
Prince William and Princess Kate's children had a live-in nanny, Maria Borrallo, as long as they were based in London.
Now that the family of five has moved to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, Borrallo still looks after Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, but she no longer lives in their home.
Still, many of the dynamics of how the Norland College-trained nanny worked in the royal household before are likely to still be in place since the move—because her training will have imbued her with strict guidelines for childcare.
One of those dynamics, according to Norland expert Louise Heren, who spoke to The Sun in 2019, is the way Borrallo and hands-on mom Princess Kate work together.
"I imagine she’s quite chummy with Catherine," Heren claimed.
"When you see pictures of Catherine with the three children, she’s very hands on, and yet you don’t have a nanny if you are doing it all yourself.
"So that partnership between them—partnership rather than member of staff—will be the case there."
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Borrallo certainly seems well liked within the family, or she wouldn't still be working for them after all these years (she began taking care of baby Prince George in 2014).
As for how Borrallo acts around the children, it's fair to say she's on the stricter side, if Heren is to be believed.
"There will be no messing," she said. "That’s because Maria will be aware that as they step off planes, holding mum’s hands, smiling and waving to the crowds, there can’t be any crying or terrible twos or tantrums."
Though Norland nannies have narrow preferences for how to take care of kids, Heren still claimed they are pretty modern. "It doesn’t have to be strict," she said. "Just because Norland nannies wear the brown uniform, they look quite old-fashioned, that doesn’t mean their message is old-fashioned. It’s no nonsense."
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.