Honestly, you’d think the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had done something *really* terrible the way they’re being lambasted on some forums and the Daily Fail. What’s actually happened is that after Kate returned from a holiday with Prince George and her parents, she and her husband decided to go on a week-long holiday of their own, to the Maldives.
Next month the three of them will be going to New Zealand and Australia on an official tour, albeit with a nanny. And yet some angry people with too much time on their hands are suggesting that by leaving seven-month-old George with his grandparents for a week to go away on their own, Kate and Wills are somehow neglecting their baby.
Oh come on. Does anyone *really* think that George is going to suffer irreparable damage because his parents went away for a week without him when he was seven months old? He’s being loved and cared for, and meanwhile his mum and dad are having some quality time together which will probably make them even better parents when they return. They will miss him desperately; he probably stopped noticing they were away after the first 24 hours. Plus, he’d just been on a long-haul trip (to Mustique) with his mum. He’s probably much happier at home.
I’m saying this as someone who took a few baby-free breaks when No 1 Son was very small. To Las Vegas, California and Greece. Did I miss him? Yes, of course. Did he suffer while I was away? Not a bit. Did it do wonders for my equilibrium? Absolutely. Which is why I’ve continued to take mums only holidays.
Part of this backlash seems to be that Kate is somehow acting unnaturally by wanting to have time alone with her husband, without her baby. Well this is just silly. Every couple needs a baby-free break, whether it’s for a night, a weekend or a week; a chance to reconnect if necessary, or at least to be able to have dinner together without being interrupted by the baby alarm (or the paparazzi), to talk and be a couple again and remind each other why you got together in the first place.
The other issue for some people seems to be the objection to the fact that Kate (a lot of this anger seems to be directed at Kate) has just been on one holiday, and now she’s taking another. Apparently this is ‘insensitive’ in the current economic climate. Well, this may be brand new information, but the Royal family are… um…. royal, which means they’re rich. Filthy rich. And to paraphrase F Scott Fitzgerald, ‘the rich are different from you and me.’ They have more money; was anyone seriously expecting Kate and Wills to have a week at Butlin’s? Don’t agree with royalty? Start a revolution. But don’t moan about the fact that a princess has gone away on an exotic holiday with her prince and left her baby at home. I know I would.