Prince William attended an event for fathers-to-be on Thursday, where he chatted about mental health, sleep deprivation and, of course, diapers.
As the father of three young children with wife Kate Middleton — Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and Prince Louis, 9 months — Wills has obviously changed a number of diapers (or sorry, I mean “nappies”) in his day. And so, he offered up some words of advice — and issued a warning — to those in attendance at “Future Dads,” an event run by the charity Future Men, that is geared toward helping men prepare for fatherhood.
“It’s never straightforward,” Prince William told one of the dads practicing changing a diaper on a doll, according to Honey. “The hardest thing is the buttons … and then the wrong leg ends up there…,” before trailing off.
Beyond the diaper talk, Prince William also spoke candidly about the difficulties of parenting, as Kate Middleton has done on a number of occasions as well. According to E! News, he told the men during a roundtable discussion:
“Once the lack of sleep starts setting in, the stress levels go up. From a young age you’re taught to have a vision, have a plan, have a career and all of a sudden babies come along and you have to start thinking about a lot more. I think ladies are a lot more giving, a lot more generous but guys, to make a success of whatever we’re going to do, we get into a rhythm. It’s such a change, your whole life goes one way and suddenly you’re told to stop in your tracks.”
Prince William also discussed the terror of a person’s first days as a new parent. “It’s very daunting how tiny they are when they first arrive,” the future king said. “They are so fragile, tiny little fingers and toes. You do feel like if you move them around too much, they are going to break, but they don’t. Wait until they’re nine months, and they’ll be off.”
We can only assume that Wills has been having these very convos with his brother, Prince Harry, as he prepares for the arrival of his first royal baby with Meghan Markle this spring.
