Prince William wants relaxed kids

29 July 2016

Prince William wants his children to grow up "relaxed and easy to talk to".

Prince William and his family

The 34-year-old prince is father to three-year-old Prince George and 13-month-old Princess Charlotte and photographer Samir Hussein - who has worked closely with the British royal family for several years - believes he and wife Duchess Catherine are keen for the youngsters to have the "less stuffy" upbringing he and brother Prince Harry were given thanks to their late mother Princess Diana.

Asked why the younger royals are so popular, Samir said: "I think people can just identify with them a lot, I think William and Harry are quite down to earth and when you talk to them they're very easy going and really good to talk to and I think the whole new generation identifies with them, they find them a lot more relaxed and less stuffy.

"It probably goes back to the days of Diana and they've taken on that mantle rather than the traditional sort of royal family that is seen as quite distant and stiff in some respects.

"William and Harry seem a lot more relaxed and I think George and Charlotte are going to follow on - William is pretty sure in the line he wants to take with them and I think he'll want them to be very similar to him and Harry and a lot more relaxed and easy to talk to and more to do with the people."

And Samir - who is working closely with Butlin's on a new campaign to encourage families to spend less time taking photos on their holiday by training a team of roving photographers to capture candid moments - thinks both William and Harry are "really good role models", singling out the younger prince's recent decision to undergo an HIV test live on Facebook to raise awareness of the issue, as an example of how hands-on the princes are.

He said: "You wouldn't expect to see [the HIV test] from older generations of royals and the charity work they do and the way they throw themselves in and really get involved.

"They're really good role models."

Families who put Samir's photo dos and don'ts into practice this summer can also share their snaps using #RealFamilyMoments and @Butlins. For more information visit www.butlins.com.