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While Prince William and Princess Kate are primed to be the future King and Queen, they are first and foremost parents to their three children - Prince George , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The Prince and Princess of Wales have often spoken candidly about their approach to parenting, admitting they are very hands-on with their children, their schooling and their extra-curricular activities, regularly doing the school drop-off or taking them to their sports clubs. An their involvement in their children’s lives also comes across in creative ways, with Princess Kate once being spotted in her local Sainsbury’s in order to secure last minute Halloween costumes for George and Charlotte. In 2019, Kate was seen making the relatable dash to the supermarket, and she had Prince George and Princess Charlotte in tow. Fellow shopper Kathy Whittaker was frankly amazed to see Kate - accompanied by a bodyguard - doing such a normal activity. "Another shopper said that Kate was in the shop near the clothing and pointed where she was to me. I just couldn't believe it," Kathy, a mum of four, said. Kate was seen asking the kids what they wanted to dress up as in the Hardwick Industrial Estate branch in Norfolk before using the self-checkout tills to complete her purchases. "She was with Charlotte and George looking at Halloween outfits but her bodyguard was kind of watching people with phones and telling them no pictures. I managed to get the photo as she was at the self-service checkout. You just don't expect it to happen, you think Kate would shop in Waitrose or Harrods," Kathy said. This wasn’t the first time Kate has been spotted in decidedly normal shops: in 2018 she was spotted having a look around The Range, a discount shop, in Kings Lynn, and in 2020 she was seen again in another branch of Sainsbury's near her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall. While Kate was not messing around when it came to finding costumes for her children, in years past, William and Kate have been known to celebrate Halloween in a more stripped-back fashion. Former royal butler Grant Harrold recalled a Halloween party in Balmoral in 2009, telling Marie Claire that the intimate gathering took place in one of the Scottish estate’s secluded cabins, the perfect setting for a fun, low-key Halloween evening. “I and one of the other butlers kitted it all out for Halloween with cobwebs and spiders,” he recalled, before William and Kate personally took over, serving their guests with hands-on hospitality. Gushing about the couple’s nature, Harrold added, “The kitchens packed up the food for William and Kate to take down [to the cabin]. They took it all down themselves, unpacking it and serving it themselves. They then washed it all back up, packed up the boxes, and brought it back up to the main house.” Guests and hosts alike embraced the party’s simplicity, with Harrold noting that the Prince and Princess “didn’t do fancy dress, they were all in jeans and shirts,” proving that even royals can enjoy Halloween with a relaxed, homey touch.
