Prince William talks of life as a new parent

Prince George of Cambridge is “a little bit of a rascal” who doesn’t like to sleep much and is a wriggler when it comes to having his nappy changed.

This picture was revealed by his sleep-deprived father, the Duke of Cambridge, in his first interview since his son’s birth four weeks ago.

Speaking to the US cable network CNN’s correspondent Max Foster, Prince William, 31, admitted that having his newborn thrust into the spotlight before the media’s massed ranks, just hours after his birth, was perhaps not something he would have chosen. “I know that the position I’m in, that’s what’s required of me,” he said. But he added that he and the Duchess of Cambridge were “on such a high anyway” that they were happy “to show him off to whoever wanted to see him”.

'Best looking'
"As any new parent knows, you're only too happy to show off your new child, and proclaim that he is the best looking or the best everything," he said. He was just thankful that the third in line to the throne "wasn't screaming his head off the whole way through".

In the interview, ostensibly to promote the Tusk Trust charity for endangered species in Africa, the duke revealed the emotional impact of fatherhood. “The last few weeks for me have been just a very emotional experience - something I never thought I would feel myself.”

He had discovered “a lot of things affect me differently now”. His son, he said, was “a little bit of a rascal . . . So he either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I’m not sure.

“He does like to keep having his nappy changed,” added the duke, who changed his son’s first nappy. “I wasn’t allowed to get away with that. I had every midwife staring at me: ‘You do it. You do it.’”

Prince George was “growing quite quickly” and “he’s a little fighter . . . He kind of wriggles around quite a lot and he doesn’t want to go to sleep that much, which is a bit of a problem.”

The duke was looking forward to returning to his job as an Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot to “get some sleep”, he said.

William had practised securing his son’s car seat before attempting it in front of the cameras, and chose to drive his family from hospital himself, rather than using a chauffeur, which “was really important to me”.

He would like, one day, to pass on his interest in Africa’s endangered species to his son. But for the moment?

“At the moment, the only legacy I want to pass on to him is to sleep more and maybe not have to change his nappy so many times,” he said.

– (Guardian service)