Prince George Is Butting Heads With Kate Middleton & Prince William Over This Rule

It's no secret that being part of the royal family comes with a lot of rules, some of which are honestly pretty outdated. Someone likely to become very familiar with many of those rules in the coming years is Prince George, the eldest son of Prince William and second in line for the throne. Given that he's all but guaranteed to be king one day, George is in an exceptional position in an already exceptional family. For instance, his life has already changed significantly since turning 12 in July 2025, as that particular milestone means he's no longer allowed to be on the same flights as William. But there's one rule in particular that reportedly has the young prince butting heads with his father, as well as his mother, Kate Middleton. And, ironically, it's one that will actually go away as he gets older.

Speaking to Brazilian TV host Luciano Huck in November 2025, William revealed that none of his and Kate's children have cell phones. While this seems perfectly reasonable for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who are respectively 10 and seven years old at the time of writing, it's apparently a more bitter pill to swallow for the pre-teen George. "And to be honest, it's getting to the point where it's becoming a little bit of a, like, tense issue," William confessed (via People). The Prince of Wales did say that he will likely get George a phone when he starts secondary school (high school for our American readers), with the caveat that it would not be able to access the internet. So, although getting older while being such a key royal obviously comes with a lot of responsibility, it seems that George can't wait to come of age, so long as it also grants him more technological freedom.

Prince William has an interesting relationship with the internet. Though the heir to King Charles III's throne's affinity for online football (again, soccer for the Americans out there) forums actually makes him strangely relatable, the generational divide is clear based on the boomer-esque way he used Zoom to send a message of encouragement to good friend Robert Irwin. Still, one thing William has remained rather consistent on over the years is his skepticism regarding just how safe the digital world is, especially for children.

It was all the way back in 2018 that William not only took the time to set up an anti-cyberbullying initiative, but also called on social media platforms to do more to protect their users. "You have powered amazing movements of social change. Surely together you can harness innovation to allow us to fight back against the intolerance and cruelty that has been brought to the surface by your platforms," the prince said in a speech at the BBC's London headquarters (via People). "And you have brought families together in ways that were previously unimaginable. Surely you can partner with parents to make the online world a safe place of discovery, friendship, and education for their children," he continued, calling on tech companies to do what is right, rather than what makes them the most money.

To that end, while Prince George is apparently none too pleased with his father, it seems that he at least partially sees where he's coming from regarding the no-phones rule. "I think he understands why. We communicate why we don't think it's right ... I think children can access too much stuff they don't need to see online," William told Luciano Huck during their late-2025 chat.