She spent the final weeks of her pregnancy making a number of trips to the store to prepare her baby's arrival, and now Kate Middleton has opted out of traditional antique furniture and instead chosen a special theme for Prince George's nursery in their future Kensington Palace home, HELLO! magazine reports.
While their luxurious Kensington Palace residence, Apartment 1A, undergoes renovations, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been spending their first few weeks with baby George at the Middleton mansion in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Following his two-week paternity leave, Prince William is now back at work in Anglesey, North Wales as a search-and-rescue pilot, leaving Middleton at home with the new prince and her parents to help her care for him.
Spending a lot of time with a newborn seems to have put the Duchess in a baby-decorating mood, as new reports claim that she has decided to decorate Prince George's new nursery in a Beatrix Potter theme, featuring plenty of famous animal friends from the popular children's book series. A source claims that the Duchess currently has her eyes on furniture and accessories in particular from a Knightsbridge nursery outfitters, Dragons' Beatrix Potter collection.
The Beatrix Potter collection features a white and blue color palette, hand-painted furniture and items decorated with adorable bunny rabbit characters from the book series, likely to be customized with George's name, of course.
While being a royal has its perks, much of Middleton's decisions are left up to the Palace, as she must balance her own "thoroughly modern" parenting ideas with royal tradition. It is said that in an effort to win over the Palace with her customized nursery ideas, the Duchess has enlisted the help of the Duchess of Cornwall for the nursery, hoping to "triumph over those at the Palace who want a more traditional room for George," according to HELLO! magazine.
In addition to a new nursery, Prince George may also be soon getting a new caretaker, as Prince William has been considering asking his retired former nanny to return to work for the couple and help care for the baby while he and Middleton juggle parenthood with their royal duties.
"They both accept the view that they won't be able to do it all. There is also a feeling that Kate might lay herself open to criticism if she is seen letting her mother have too much influence," a source recently told the Mirror. "William has fond memories of Jessie and they've put the idea to her that she comes back. I think she's very flattered."
Back in May, the Duchess was spotted buying gender-neutral furniture revolving around a color palette of herringbone brown for the royal baby, though the Duke and Duchess have admitted there is still a lot left to be done.
If the couple do decide on the Beatrix Potter nursery items, it will likely inspire a lot more parents to choose the same theme and bring in a lot of revenue for the company.
