SAYING goodbye to a loved one is never easy – let alone when the world's eyes are watching your every move.
But the Royal Family were the picture of grace and decorum yesterday while paying their respects at the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
During the touching ceremony, TV viewers praised the poise and strength displayed by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their young children.
Many noticed Kate's caring touches and glances towards Prince George and Princess Charlotte to help them during the difficult day.
Parenting expert Gifty Enright says bringing the two youngsters was a "masterstroke" by their parents.
Here she reveals how Kate's behaviour yesterday spoke volumes about her as a mother.
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A STATE funeral is an intimidating event even for grown-ups, but throw in the fact that it was their grandmother’s, attended by 2,000 well-wishers, and it takes it to a completely different level.
That is why the decision of the Prince and Princess of Wales to take their two older children was nothing short of courageous.
When it comes to grief, people can be unpredictable, and with such a huge sense of occasion and history, with all eyes on the Royal Family, William and Kate were taking a huge gamble bringing their nine and seven-year-old children.
However, they intuitively understood how important it would be for the children to be included; and, what a masterstroke it was!
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It truly shows how confident they are as parents.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte had been around the Queen, who they affectionately called Gan-Gan, all their lives and created lots of memories with her.
It would have been a shame to rob them of sharing their personal grief with others who loved her just as much by excluding them from the funeral.
Knowing that your grandmother is the Queen is not the same as being at her state funeral with 500 world leaders, immersed in pageantry and ceremony, and seeing how important she was to a lot of people around the world.
This can only be a good thing when it comes to processing their grief, and they must have found it very comforting.
'Reassuring'
Apart from the fact that the children were immaculately dressed for the occasion, we saw Kate’s reassuring pats and squeezes here and there, when she thought the children needed it.
This again was Kate showing how confident and intuitive she is as a mother.
Rather than shielding the children from the realities of life, she exposes them to it, but puts strategies in place to support them.
That is how resilience is built in children, and both Kate and William seem to do it effortlessly.
Death is a part of life and by bringing them to the funeral, they got to see King Charles III and other members of the Royal Family displaying emotion.
This normalises their grief and validates their own pain and helps them navigate their confusion around death.
Death is a part of life and by bringing them to the funeral they got to see King Charles and other members of the Royal Family displaying emotion
The children’s behaviour throughout both services at Westminster Abbey and St George's Chapel in Windsor was impeccable.
One would almost have forgotten how young they were, had Princess Charlotte not been spotted speaking animatedly to her brother– as young children do – just before the transfer of the coffin at Wellington Arch.
Emotional 'training'
Prince George and Princess Charlotte are the second and third in line to the throne – theirs will be a life of duty and service, governed by rigid rules and ceremony.
There will be times when their hearts will be breaking but ‘the show must still go on’.
They will need to learn to regulate their emotions on big occasions – and goodness knows there will be plenty of those.
This is fantastic training for their future roles, and the earlier they start, the easier it will be for them.
There is no better training for the job ahead than attending their grandmother’s funeral at such a young age with the full glare of the world's media on them.
The great thing on this occasion is that they got to build these emotional resilience skills with the safety of their parents right next them.
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This is what makes the Prince and Princess of Wales very astute when it comes to their parenting.
We can also see this in the fact that Prince Louis, who at four years old is still a little too young to be expected to sit still through such a sombre event, was left at home.
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