Just Like His Father: Prince George Is Taking on Royal Duties at Age 12
From the day he was born, Prince William and the Princess of Wales’ (formerly known as Kate Middleton) oldest son’s future was already mapped out for him. As the eldest child of the heir apparent, Prince George himself will be king one day. Throughout his life, George will work on behalf of the Crown before the day he is crowned and will then continue a life of service and duty.
In fact, at just 12 years old, George has already taken on some engagements and has made quite a few royal appearances, just like his father did at that age.
Here’s more on that, plus when George’s parents first told him about his destiny and what he can never do with Prince William ever again.
When Prince William and Kate told Prince George about his future
Prince George went on his first royal tour with his parents when he was an infant. At just 9 months old. He appeared with his mom and dad during their 2014 royal tour to Australia and New Zealand. Interestingly, Prince William was the same age when then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana took him on his first overseas tour in 1983, which also happened to be to Australia and New Zealand.
William’s first major official public appearance was at age 8 when he visited Cardiff, Wales, on St. David’s Day. When he was 8, George also visited Cardiff with his parents and sister as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Now that George is 12, his public duties have become more frequent, including a Buckingham Palace tea for World War II veterans in May 2025 and his appearance at the Festival of Remembrance in November 2025.
So just how long has the young prince known about and been preparing for his future?
According to royal author and historian Robert Lacey, William and his wife decided to tell George around his 7th birthday in July 2020.
“William has not revealed to the world how and when he broke the big news to his son. Maybe one day George will tell us the story himself. But sometime around the boy’s 7th birthday in the summer of 2020, it is thought that his parents went into more detail about what the little prince’s life of future royal ‘service and duty’ would particularly involve,” Lacey wrote in the new chapter of his book Battle of Brothers (per the Daily Mail).
However, royal correspondent Katie Nicholl said that George’s parents didn’t just drop the news on him all at once. She told OK! that they had been “gradually” trying to introduce him to the fact that he’ll be the monarch someday. The young royal has known for some time that he’s “different” than his siblings because he was often “singled out” to spend more time with his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II for things like the “Four Monarchs” portrait.
George is taking on royal responsibilities and learning what he can’t do now
And now that he’s 12, there’s something Prince George can never do with his father again that he’s done many times before and that is get on an airplane together.
It’s protocol that Prince William should never fly on the same flight as King Charles III so if something should happen to the plane, both the king and heir apparent wouldn’t be at risk.
That rule now applies to the Prince of Wales as well. Prior to George’s birthday, Cosmopolitan noted “once Prince George turns 12, he and Prince William literally won’t be able to travel in a plane together–no exceptions.”
