Prince George knows he is "different" from his siblings despite efforts from his parents to treat all their children equally, a royal expert has claimed.
Royal commentator Katie Nicholl said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are not raising the seven-year-old to be spoilt or get special treatment but there is one telltale sign that he is the future king.
Katie, who is the author of William And Harry: Behind The Palace Wall, claims Prince George is often "singled out" to spend more time with the Queen.
Speaking to OK! she said his future as a king is "being introduced to him gradually" by William and Kate.
She said: “George is an absolute pleasure to be around and that’s down to his parents.
"They want to protect him from that moment, so it’s an idea that’s being introduced to him gradually. The true enormity of what his life will one day be isn’t something he’s fully aware of yet."
George gets taken away from his sister Princess Charlotte, five, and brother Prince Louis, two, for photoshoots with his dad, granddad and great-gran which Katie said he will have noticed.
Footage was filmed of George learning how to make Christmas puddings alongside his father, grandfather Charles and the monarch for the Queen's Christmas Day message in 2019.
In January a photo was released of George with the Queen and her son and grandson.
“I think George understands, like William did from a very early age, that he’s different from his younger brother and sister and that he’ll have a different future," Katie said.
“After all, he gets taken away to do photoshoots with Her Majesty the Queen, so he must notice he’s been singled out.
“But I don’t think William and Kate have made a big thing of saying to George, ‘One day you will be King.
“They’re not raising him to be spoilt or to have an inflated sense of his own importance. He doesn’t get special treatment just because he’s the future heir."
She said that it is believed William and Kate chose Thomas’s Battersea for Prince George's early years of schooling because of its nurturing environment and the focus on “being kind”.
“There was quite a big fuss about George’s arrival at the school. Bulletproof glass was installed and the presence of protection officers sets him apart from his peers, she said.
"His classmates were clearly very aware there was something different about him from the start. They know he’s a prince and they call him ‘PG’, which is short for Prince George.”
Katie said the relaxed approach to preparing Prince George for his future could be down to how William felt as teenager when he was troubled by the sense of duty that awaited him.
She said: “As a young man, William really struggled with that notion of kingship. The realisation that he had no choice about which path his life would take, that he couldn’t become a doctor or a vet if he chose, weighed very heavily on him.
“He got treated differently from his younger brother. When the boys went for tea with the Queen Mother, William would get the first choice of sandwiches or cake.
"It was all about William. I think that’s why Diana overcompensated in terms of her affection for Harry because she was very aware that he didn’t get the same attention William got.”
Katie said that William and Kate, 38, who have been staying at their Norfolk residence Anmer Hall throughout lockdown with their children, aim to ensure all the youngsters feel equal.
She said: "They make a point of ensuring their three children feel equal and that they’re all treated the same."
