If you're a mom to a toddler, it doesn't matter if you're Susan down the street or the Duchess of Cambridge — toddlers can be complete assh*les [1] sometimes. Like the rest of us, Kate Middleton certainly goes through the ebbs and flows of motherhood [2], but unlike the rest of us, most of her parenting is on display through high-res photos of her wearing chic clothing as her toddler melts down beside her.
Whether she's pretty in pink and matching with Charlotte — who is crying hysterically at who knows what — walking away from a screaming George to let Prince William "deal with this one," or kneeling down to chat with whichever child [3] seems like they could be on the brink of a meltdown at any moment, Kate has dealt with her fair share of kid tantrums in public [4].
Ahead, see some of the photos of Kate defusing toddler tantrums [5] at every stage while simultaneously reminding us that she's not all that different from the rest of us moms. And, also, of course, that toddlers are the worst [6].
Kate showed her quick reflexes when she decided to carry Charlotte before she threw an all-out tantrum.
Here, we can only imagine that Kate is offering up some kind of bribe to George, who appears on the cusp of losing it.
Even Prince William did his best here to stop Geroge's irritation becoming more than just a facial expression.
Possibly our favorite instance of the duchess "handling" a tantrum is when she up and left her crying toddler to William because she just could not deal.
Even with those cool noise-canceling headphones, George was reduced to tears.
We call this "Portrait of a Mom Who Has Given Up on Appearances."
When I make this face, it's usually loosely translated to: "Someone get me a glass of wine."
This hard expression is about the toughest you'll see from Kate in public, but that's probably because her kids take one look at it and know Mom means business this time.
Here, KM did her best to not make her father-in-law feel like his granddaughter was crying because of him — because really, she could have just been upset that the sky was blue.
We can't see George's face in this photo, but we're thinking he was probably happy that the stern attention from his parents was on his sister for this one.
Hoisting your near tantruming child into the air to avoid a show of thrashing on the floor is usually a good plan — unless they decide to thrash around in your arms instead.
We're not sure what Kate's looking at in the distance, but the fact she could be considering what it would be like to run off for some me time [7] isn't out of the realm of possibility.