Prince William 'Loves' Kate Middleton's 'Stabilizing Normality' for Their Kids: 'That's How She Grew Up'

The Princess of Wales was raised outside aristocracy, and her background is changing how the next generation of royals is growing up

When Prince William married his college sweetheart Kate Middleton, she brought her down-to-earth tone as she stepped into royal life — and now as parents of three, the Princess of Wales' non-royal background has a big impact on how the couple is raising Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

"Those children look pretty happy with life," a palace insider tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "A lot of it is the stabilizing normality Kate brings — and that's how she grew up. William absolutely loves it."

Despite their royal roles — especially George, who is second in the line of succession to the throne behind his father and will someday become king — Kate ensures that her kids' childhoods are as normal as possible.

"Coming from a different background, she appreciates the
importance of having family time," says a source close to the royal household. "She wasn't brought up in that aristocratic setting where you see the children for a short time each day."

RELATED: See Kate Middleton's Transformation from College Commoner to Future Queen

Kate was the oldest of Carole and Michael Middleton's three children and raised in the village of Bucklebury. Carole started Party Pieces, a party supply company, in 1987 after only being able to find clown plates when she celebrated Kate's fifth birthday. The business began at her kitchen table, where she created party bags and other trinkets for children and their families before building it into a thriving business. Kate even worked for her mom — "Party Pieces has literally grown alongside my family, and I'm very proud of that," Carole previously told Sheer Luxe. "Pippa wrote our 'Party Times' blog, James did the cakes when he first left school and Catherine developed our first birthday and baby category."

Kate's childhood in the country helped inspire her love of the outdoors, and she has recalled how she loved to go "boulder hopping" in the Lake District.

Nowadays, Princess Kate regularly drives her kids to school and makes sure she or Prince William is home most evenings for their return. And the family is not afraid to get a little messy, whether they're cooking pizza or playing outside. The Princess of Wales said in a 2020 interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast that she is happiest when "I'm with my family outside in the countryside, and we're all filthy dirty."

Prince William and Princess Kate "consciously set out to achieve a sense of normality," says a close source, and the couple was expressly permitted by Queen Elizabeth and then-Prince Charles to focus on family above royal duties.

"Royal families over the generations haven't had the chance to get those foundations right, but they have,” says a friend.

Of course, raising a future monarch is still front of mind for Prince William and Princess Kate, and Prince George is well aware of his royal role.

Prince George, who will celebrate his 10th birthday on July 22, had a formal talk about his royal destiny in 2020, biographer Robert Lacey previously reported. It was a "controlled moment of their choice," Lacey wrote, "reflecting William’s unhappiness at the haphazard fashion in which the whole business of his royal destiny had buzzed around his head from the start."

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Children's wear designer Amaia Arrieta, whose clothes George and his siblings have worn for years, tells PEOPLE: "I think George has known almost from the beginning. He has always had a more prominent role — there have been many events with his late great-grandmother or great-grandfather when it was just him, and his siblings weren't there. I think they must have had that conversation very early on."

A palace insider adds, "I am sure [William and Kate] are making George aware in the best way they can. And not making it too burdensome."

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