Future king Prince George is able to play between royal duty and childhood as a result of Middleton’s background

Prince George will turn 10 on July 22. As he approaches this milestone birthday, his parents, Kate Middleton and Prince William, are trying to ensure he has a typical upbringing while also putting him in position to one day succeed to the throne.

“It’s a massive balancing act,” one palace insider tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “William and Kate are doing the right thing, protecting him so he can have as normal a childhood as possible, but he’s also dipping into duties as a future monarch.”

The insider adds, “He’s getting firsthand experience of what it’s like to be a royal and a monarch and firsthand experience of being a normal boy.”

Prince George’s unique role was apparent at King Charles’ coronation in May when he acted as one of his grandfather’s Pages of Honor during the crowning ceremony. While his younger siblings — Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — joined the congregation at Westminster Abbey, George became the youngest future king to play an official role in a coronation.

“He was terrific,” says a close family friend.

Prince William and Princess Kate, both 41, were aware of the pressure their eldest child would feel in the spotlight but felt he was ready for the task.

Adds a guest, “The service was emotional and family-oriented and very inclusive — and George played his part.”

But at home, Prince George has a very different upbringing than previous heirs to the throne, thanks in large part to his mother’s childhood outside the royal fold.

“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.”

Although they have the help of longtime nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, Princess Kate regularly drives her kids to school and makes sure she or Prince William is home most evenings for their return.

The family of five often gathers in the kitchen to make kid-friendly dinners and decorate cakes. “The princess asked if we make our own dough and said that they love making pizzas with their children,” says Pete Morris, whose Little Dragon Pizza Van the couple visited in Wales in April. And Kate recently used an official outing to ask The Great British Bake Off finalist Alice Fevronia for tips on making a smooth frosting.

The Princess of Wales has also talked about the family’s love of the outdoors. In a 2020 interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Kate said she was happiest when “I’m with my family outside in the countryside, and we’re all filthy dirty.”

“Someone did ask me the other day, what would you want your children to remember about their childhood?” she continued. “

And I thought that was a really good question, because actually if you really think about that, is it that I’m sitting down trying to do their maths and spelling homework over the weekend?

“Or is it the fact that we’ve gone out and lit a bonfire and sat around trying to cook sausages that hasn’t worked because it’s too wet?”

Kate’s parents are also heavily involved in Prince George and his siblings’ lives, with Carole Middleton taking George to his favorite candy shop, Mable’s Paint Pot, and on other outings in Kate’s hometown of Bucklebury.