How Kate Middleton and Prince William are preparing Prince George for his future role as King

Prince George may only be six years old, but the eldest son of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge has a very important future ahead of him.

As third in line to the throne, George will one day be King of England, following in the footsteps of his great-grandmother, his grandfather, and his father.

Of course, George's inevitable future is some way off yet - with Prince Charles and Prince William set to take on the role ahead of him. But it seems the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, his loving parents, are keen to start slowing preparing their oldest child for his prestigious path.

According to the Daily Mail, a source has revealed that Kate and William have begun explaining George's future role to him, but in the form of a 'storybook' - perhaps to make the whole thing a little easier for him to understand.

And apparently, they're also keen to clue Princess Charlotte in too, given that she will one day be sister to the monarch.

The source said, "William and Kate have already talked to George and Charlotte about their future roles, but in a child-like way so that they understand without feeling overwhelmed. George knows there's something special about him and that one day he'll be the future King of England."

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William has previously shared that his eldest son also loves The Lion King - and given that his circumstances are arguably similar to little Simba's (a young Prince destined to be King), the movie might be providing some valuable preparation too!

Reportedly, George and his sister are already displaying personality traits that'll stand them in good stead for their future royal roles, with the source also revealing that he is a "confident little boy", while Charlotte is a "social butterfly". They continued, "They don't get nervous in public and are already showing signs of becoming great leaders."

How else are Catherine and William preparing their six-year-old Prince George for his starring role in the future?

For the royal couple, it seems instilling both a sense of duty and respect, as well as an understanding of an ordinary life outside of palace walls, is vital for their son.

In the past, the Duke of Cambridge has been vocal about wanting as normal a life as possible for his children. In an interview with GQ back in 2017, he admitted, "Stability at home is so important to me. I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world, and that is so important to both of us as parents."

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Kate and William have certainly practised what they preached too - the couple take in in turns to ferry their two older children to school, and always try to be around for the school run in the afternoons too.

Plus, they've chosen to send their little'uns to a surprisingly 'normal' school, too. Prince George began his education at a Montessori school in Norfolk, and he and Charlotte now both attend Thomas's Battersea. Although a private school, it's a markedly different choice to the 'royal approved' schools that Princes William and Harry attended, such as Wetherby School in Notting Hill.

It seems the Duke of Cambridge is also taking inspiration from his mother to keep his children grounded, and connected to the people to whom George will be King one day.

Speaking about Diana, he explained, "She realised that it's very important when you grow up, especially in the life we grew up in, that you realise life happens beyond palace walls, and that you see real people struggling with real issues."

So, now, he told Mary Berry in a recent BBC Christmas special, that he often tries to do the same with his two older children, "On the school run already, bear in mind [they are] 6 and 4, whenever we see someone who is sleeping rough on the street I talk about it and I point it out, and I explain,” said William. “And they are all very interested. They are like, ‘Why can’t they go home?’”

It seems also to be a valuable way of teaching Prince George the value of charity and doing good for others - something which will certainly become a big part of his life as he gets older. His mum and dad are patrons of dozens of charities between them, and often work to raise awareness of important causes, such as mental health.

But they're also teaching Prince George about the importance of duty and service...

But of course, a huge part of Prince George's future within the royal family will be based around duty to his people and country - and it looks like Kate and William are doing their best to begin making him aware of that sort of thing already - but in a gentle, slow, way.

The Duke and Duchess have already brought their six-year-old son on a handful of royal tours abroad, and 2019 marked his third time appearing on the Buckingham Palace balcony for Trooping the Colour. George even attended the official royal Christmas morning service last year, for the first time.

And, as seen by the various picture, the Prince is well aware of the media interest in him, and constant presence of photographers whenever he is around!

However, the Cambridge's without doubt value their privacy and normal family time immensely, with William previously confessing that he doesn't want Prince George to be too aware of his imminent duty at too young an age.

He admitted to the BBC, "I think royal duty is extremely important. It's part of the fabric of what the royal family and any future monarch has.

"But it's about finding your own way at the right time and if you're not careful duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot at a very early age, and I think you've got to develop into the duty role."

So it's likely that keeping things normal at home and within their private life is a vital part of raising Prince George slowly for the future for which is destined.