What Prince George Revealed About Himself at His Playdate

"He owned the place. No one was going to stand in his way!" said one father

Photo: Marty Melville/Getty

Must be the genes.

At his first-ever public playdate in New Zealand, with 10 other children his age, Prince George showed he was king of the room as he boldly grabbed toys and crawled confidently across the floor as proud parents Prince William and Kate chatted with other moms and dads.

The royal 8-month-old also seemed to be unperturbed by the cameras whirring from the sidelines and showed he was happy to take center stage.

Sharing their recollections of the party, the lucky parents whose babies met George at the special Government House gathering in Wellington managed to shed some light on the little prince’s progress.

• He’s got “four or five teeth coming through,” Grant Collinge, 38, said after he met George and Kate with his baby Lucas.

• He knows how to be the boss “and is bubbly, quite feisty and he took control,” Collinge says. “He owned the place. No one was going to stand in his way!”

• He is now sleeping well through the night, and being on solid foods now so has “really helped his sleeping,” Collinge said Kate told him.

• Kate said he’s never played with so many babies before, and she and William “are both very lovely and loving parents,” said Ryan Tunstall. “George liked the drum and the standing-up play station.”

• He gets his nighttime bottle from his dad, who told new mum Sheila Lemalie that he then puts his son to bed.

• He is “very strong and very advanced,” Lemalie said. “George is almost trying to walk – he can pull himself up and he is almost there.”

• He likes chewing on the ends of mum’s long hair.

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• He’s not averse to ensuring he gets his way with some force. When baby Alve Eden, dressed in floral dress and headband, got in George’s way, he reached out to stroke her face – but was a bit too far and hit Eden in the face with a flailing arm.

• And when he turned to a little girl called Paige (who was with her parents, Jenny Stevens, 34, and dad Mark, 43), George waved his arms to get her attention and touched Paige’s face – before grabbing her toy wooden doll, which sent Paige into her mother’s arms.

George was not done. He grabbed at several other toys from other youngsters before Kate encouraged him to crawl to her, then pulled him to his feet.

The party was put on to highlight the work of Plunket, a not-for-profit organization that helps 90 percent of new parents in New Zealand with advice and support.

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