Prince George may not be a household name yet, but that will change very soon. That’s because George is the oldest son of Prince William and Kate Middleton. That means George, like his famous father, is another future king of England!
The public has always been curious about George, but his protective parents do everything they can to give him all the privacy in the world. Still, from various public appearances and quotes from his parents, we’ve learned quite a bit about this future king.
What are some of the wildest things you didn’t know about Prince George? Keep reading to find out!
Prince George made his Trooping of the Colour carriage debut for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
England’s annual Trooping of the Colour is a special parade marking the official birthday of the British monarch. On June 2, 2022, Prince George and his siblings got to play a special role for the Trooping of the Colour during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her historic 70 years as sovereign.
George, 8, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 4, rode in the first carriage of the parade procession, along with their mother Kate Middleton and Camilla Parker-Bowles. The kids were on their best behavior and all dressed up in blue, with George wearing a very smart-fitting suit.
For George and his siblings, this was a “carriage debut” marking their appearance in the Trooping of the Colour procession. Previously, they had only appeared at on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Trooping of the Colour for the Royal Air Force flypast. Prince William’s own carriage debut was way back in 1987, when he was four years old. This time, he skipped the carriage altogether and rode in the procession on a horse while wearing his military uniform and a bearskin hat.
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George has a sibling rivalry with Charlotte and Louis
Royals often get into sibling rivalries. Some, like the rivalry between Harry and William, are serious and last for years. Fortunately, George’s sibling rivalry is a bit more down to Earth.
In June 2020, Metro reported that George had a sunflower-growing contest with Charlotte and Louis. According to Kate Middleton, Louis did the best, and it made George quite angry. “The children are really enjoying growing their sunflowers—Louis’s is winning so George is a little grumpy about that!”
Interestingly, Kate claimed in May 2020 that George would rather be doing sister Charlotte’s work for her (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet). “George gets very upset because he just wants to do all of Charlotte’s projects. Spider sandwiches are far cooler than literacy work!”
And no, Kate isn’t referring to make a sandwich out of actual spiders. Spider Sandwiches is a very popular children’s book in the U.K., written by Claire Freedman, and schools often pair lessons with it, such as making spider-shaped sandwiches and counting the legs (made out of celery, for instance) to learn math.
Incidentally, George hunts spiders (more on this later), so he may be a subject matter expert on assembling a spider sandwich.
George the spider-hunter
When he was a bit younger, George had a hobby that we wouldn’t normally associate with the Royal Family: hunting spiders!
Cosmopolitan reports that in 2018, Kate Middleton disclosed that George and his siblings would often spend hours in their garden hunting for spiders. We’re not sure what George did after he caught them, but Cosmo also reports that George ate a live ant when he met Bear Grylls and that the future king’s “eyes lit up” once he did so.
Putting all of this together, we’re starting to wonder if George is taking those “spider sandwiches” much more seriously than Charlotte is!
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George almost had a completely different name
George is a perfectly serviceable name for both a child and a royal. However, George was almost called something different altogether!
According to Vanity Fair, he nearly had the name “Alexander.” An expert on the Royal Family confided to the publication that “Although Kate apparently suspected it was a boy and had set her heart on the name Alexander, they had not yet decided what to call their firstborn.”
Alexander is actually a pretty great name, though comparisons to Alexander the Great might be a bad look for the most famous imperialist family of them all.
Still, George ended up with “Alexander Louis” as his middle name, so Kate got a compromise for the name she wanted. (Apparently, either Kate or William were really attached to the name Louis as well, since they gave that name to their second son.)
He’s a big fan of ‘Fireman Sam’
Like many children, George has a favorite cartoon. In his case, he absolutely adores the program Fireman Sam.
Prince William dished about this in a BBC interview this year. As the Scottish Daily Express reports, William said “You have to pretend you’re really into [his shows] because George gets very upset if you’re not showing due diligence to the characters.” Yes, parents: even one of the most powerful people in the entire world has to fake interest in his kid’s favorite cartoons!
Of course, George’s interest in Fireman Sam paid off. To celebrate both his love of the show and the show’s 30th anniversary, the showrunners created a special episode where the Royal Family visits town. The plot involves a young royal who must ultimately save the fictional town of Pontypandy with a helicopter.
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George has the same hobby as Princess Diana
Prince William is not exactly known for his dancing talents (we’ve all seen his terrible dancing in the club, right?). But his mother, Princess Diana, was quite the dancer. And it seems George has inherited his late grandmother’s skills.
Metro reports that William is quite open about his son’s passion. “George is doing dancing as well, he loves it,” William said. Perhaps sensing that some would say boys shouldn’t focus on dancing, William went on to say, “My mother always used to dance, she loved dancing. And if it’s something you love, you do what you love. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Keep at it.”
He has a silly nickname for Queen Elizabeth
People all around the world have given Queen Elizabeth weird nicknames, but only so many get to say them to her face. And when he was younger, George was one of them!
According to Hello! Magazine, Kate Middleton said that in reference to his grandmother, George simply called her “Gan-Gan.” Short, simple, and efficient!
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George has seven godparents
A godparent is there to take care of a child if something happens to the parents. In true royal fashion, Prince George has a whopping seven grandparents!
The godparents in question are Zara Tindall, Oliver Baker, Earl Grosvenor, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, David Jardine-Paterson, Michael Samuel, and William van Cutsem. Sounds like George has quite a few people looking after him for the next few years!