William and Kate Are Taking Serious Steps to Shield Prince Louis from a 'Royal Curse': Insider

Prince Louis, Prince William, and Kate Middleton on the balcony during Trooping the Color.
May 14 2025, Published 9:50 a.m. ET
Prince William and Kate Middleton reportedly have taken caution to protect their youngest son, Prince Louis, from a 'royal curse' that has often haunted the younger siblings in the monarchy. The royal couple wants to save their kids from the struggles of being a 'spare' and avoid the same fate as Prince Harry. Insiders reveal that William and Middleton are focused on ensuring all three of their children feel equally valued and supported. Their aim is to prevent any sense of rivalry and have their children grow up sharing a good bond.
As reported by Fox News, royal expert Hilary Fordwich said, "They are both determined to avoid the traditional ‘heir and spare’ dynamic by emphasizing that Prince George is the ‘first among equals,’ so that Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are treated as his equals." She added, "This ensures they all feel valued and included, rather than sidelined or overshadowed." Fordwich also revealed that the Prince and Princess of Wales have always tried to give their kids a normal life to make sure none of the kids ever feels like the spare in the family, as reported by Cosmopolitan.
The expert said, "William and Kate accomplished this by working as a family unit, for household chores, cooking, and the like. Previous royal generations relied heavily on nannies, whilst their parents focused on royal duties, thereby leaving little time for hands-on involvement. This resulted in their children feeling emotionally neglected." Fordwich added, "Both William and Kate, untraditionally for royals, are very involved in their children’s daily lives, from school runs to bedtime routines. They have maintained strong family bonds, a sense of normalcy, and are reducing feelings of isolation, as well as favoritism.”
This, she noted, is completely different from the childhood that William and Harry had. Their childhood days were marked by the public scandal of their parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s divorce, and the constant pressure of growing up under the media spotlight. In his memoir Spare, Harry talks about the deep wounds and confusion that came along with his role in the royal family. He described feeling as "the backup plan...plan B." The Duke of Sussex claimed that he often felt as though he was brought into the world just in case something happened to William, as reported by People magazine.
When heirs are born in a royal family, they have a fixed path, but spares usually struggle to find purpose, unable to leave the Firm but also having it dictate their every move. Historian and royal author Robert Lacy calls it the 'younger-sibling syndrome'. The monarchy, he says, still hasn’t figured out how to give these second-borns the value they deserve.