The Prince and Princess of Wales are known for modernising the monarchy, and former royal butler Grant Harrold suggests Kate might teach her children to drive herself. ‘I could imagine Kate getting behind the wheel and teaching them herself when they’re old enough. She’s a very calm person so I think she would make a great teacher,’ Harrold told The Mirror. Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8, will still have an official instructor, but Harrold said the experience likely won’t be ‘much different’ from regular teens. The instructor would need to be ‘someone they can trust’ and undergo security checks. Harrold noted that having a driving licence is important for royals due to their homes on vast estates, and ‘most of them — especially the younger royals — like the freedom of being able to come and go as they please.’
This shift in royal protocol comes as Westminster undergoes its own private communication overhaul. MPs and ministers, aware of past scandals such as the Covid Inquiry, the Trigger Me Timbers scandal which led to the suspension of two Labour MPs, and the Mandelson files, have moved to automatically delete WhatsApp messages. According to a New Statesman piece, ‘scrolling back through the past few years of political chit-chat is a surprisingly swift task: virtually nothing remains.’ The ‘eyes’ emoji, which in Westminster can convey disbelief, awkwardness, or hint at a deeper story, is now disappearing along with the messages. One minister still has old messages visible, but all future correspondence is ‘destined to be digitally incinerated.’ MPs know they’re not technically meant to use WhatsApp for official business, but ‘they also know their jobs would be impossible without it.’ The line between work and personal life in Westminster is ‘not so much blurred as nonexistent,’ and the recent scandals have taught them that their definition of ‘private conversation’ is not the same as the public’s.
“Kate Middleton may teach her children to drive, while MPs delete WhatsApp messages after scandals.”