Dear Kate,
mom to mum
Dear Kate,
May I call you Kate? I can’t remember if it would be Your Royal Highness, or Duchess, and this is from one mother to another anyway, so I’ll stick with first names. Let me begin by saying CONGRATS. Baby Prince _______ is beautiful. I am a new mom myself, my son Will (I promise I did NOT name him after your husband) just turned eight months-old on Prince _______’s birthday.
I wanted to write you a note to thank you for giving us a glimpse into what is one of the most intimate, intimidating,amazing experiences of your life.
At the top of this letter I’ve posted the first picture taken of me in public three days after my son was born. I hate this picture. I look like a sleepless deranged cherub, swollen, delirious with pride and giddy to have even made it outside the house wearing pants and a shirt.
I was so impressed with your appearance today with the prince. There will be haters out there who will gripe that you probably had a team of stylists, makeup artists and hair dressers to make sure you looked your royal best for the photo op, but ignore them. You SHOWED UP. Honestly, had a pool of photographers been waiting for me as I walked outside for the first time, I would have worn a burqa.
But enough about today. Here is my wish for you for everyday from here on out. I hope that you have the chance to dress like a princess when you want to and wear yoga pants and a sweatshirt like the rest of us new moms whenever you feel like it. I hope that the prince and any other munchkins that come along have all the privileges of royalty, but a sense of entitlement akin to the working class citizens of the world. I hope they are raised with the best of manners to help them fit in at Buckingham Palace and a great love of humanity to make them happy,compassionate people anywhere your travels take you around the globe.
I figure many things will be probably be offered to be done for you when raising your son, and I hope you and Prince William will turn them down. Eat up every instant of motherhood. I know I have loved the first eight months of the adventure. Embrace the little bit of crazy that comes with less sleep, when you and William will laugh at the dumbest jokes during a feeding at three in the morning until you nearly pee your pants (or actually pee your pants — no worries — we’re not judging here). Devour the quiet moments with a baby asleep on your chest,and even when that gives way to wrestling a wriggling infant, eat that up too. Enjoy the first time when you realize you don’t mind baby poo under your fingernails after an excessively dirty diaper (nappy) change. You’ll flick it off like the rest of us and move on. Taking in all of these moments will make you a better person, a better wife, a better duchess.
I won’t go on, I am sure you have a lot of letters from adoring Britons who have been following your pregnancy and labor with particular fervor. I will admit that when I read the news about you entering the hospital, I was as excited as everyone else. Not as a royal baby stalker, but as a new mom who remembers the moment when my husband and I realized it was time to go ahead and have our baby. You will never forget it.
Have fun, relax, and go out there and make all of us new moms proud.
Sincerely,
Lane
Mom in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
