Sophie, Countess of Wessex, wants her children to grow up 'as normally as possible'
Prince Edward's wife wants Louise and James to have proper jobs when they are older
It's not often we see pics of Edward and Sophie Wessex's kids, Louise and James.
And that's probably because the Count and Countess do their utmost to give them the most 'normal' childhood they can have - despite having the Queen for their granny, and the various heirs to the throne in their immediate family.
And in a new interview, Sophie has more or less backed up this theory.
The Royal was speaking to the BBC as she launched a new charity fundraiser for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
As well as discussing her latest cause, Sophie spoke about her children, and made it clear that Lady Louise, who is 12, and James, Viscount Severn, 8, will be expected to go out and find work when they are older.
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"‘Certainly when they were very young we tried to keep them out of it. Only because for their sakes, to grow up as normally as possible we felt was quite important," Sophie told the Beeb.
"And they’re going to have to go out and get a job and earn a living later on in life - if they’ve had as normal a start in life they possibly can get, then hopefully that will stand them in good stead."
Sophie also let slip to the BBC that her children didn't even realise for a very long time that their grandmother was actually the Queen.
"It happened a little while ago," an amused Sophie revealed.
"Well for Louise, actually, it was much more of a shock to the system. It was only when she was coming home from school and saying, ‘Mummy, people keep on telling me that grandma is the queen.’
"And I asked her, ‘Yes, how does that make you feel? And she said, ‘I don’t understand.' I don’t think she had grasped that perhaps there was only one queen."
The Wessexs' chose early on to spurn HRH titles for their son and daughter, and have largely kept them out of the spotlight.
Louise and James were part of the Queen's recent 90th birthday celebrations, however, and featured in a touching family shot with their Granny and their other young cousins, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte, as well as Zara Phillips' daughter Mia, and Peter and Autumn Phillips' little girls Savannah and Isla.
We like Sophie's stance very much - but can't help but wonder how it will work out on a practical level - there's no way Louise or James are ever going to be working down our local supermarket or manning the reception at the medical centre is there? (or IS there?)
Photos: Shutterstock & Twitter/@TheRoyalFamily
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