Prince William Opens Up on a Podcast Appearance About the Big Lesson He Wants to Teach Kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis

Surprise! The Prince and Princess of Wales appeared on cousin-in-law Mike Tindall’s podcast, “The Good, The Bad, & the Rugby,” recorded in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. (Princess Anne, Tindall’s mother-in-law, also joined in on the conversation.) Tindall is married to William’s first cousin Zara, and on the bonus episode of the show, William opened up about an important life lesson he hopes to instill in his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis through playing sports: how to lose.

“Learning to lose, which I think we’ve got to concentrate more on nowadays,” William said, per The Mirror. “I think people don’t know how to lose well. Talking about our children particularly, I want to make sure they understand that.” 

William went on to detail how children can “grow” from not always winning. “I think it’s really important from a young age to understand how to lose, and why we lose, and to grow from it and what you learn from that process,” he said. “But also, to win well, and not boast. There’s so many life lessons that help us all through life, in friendship building, in relationship building, workplace, that you gain from those early years of playing team sport.”

Of George, Charlotte, and Louis, Catherine said “What I think is really interesting is that they are all obviously very different temperaments, adding that “they are growing and trying out different sports.”

“They’re obviously still really young,” she said, per People. “It’s going to be interesting to see how that grows and develops.” Catherine also shared that her only daughter, Charlotte, plays both rugby and football, both of which “weren’t school sports when I was growing up,” she said. “Charlotte’s playing both the sports now, and it’s really good to see youngsters, particularly girls, playing these types of sports now.”

Catherine explained that the importance of physical activity was a value ingrained in her and her siblings by her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton. “They always encouraged us to be physically active and sporty, and they always encouraged us into doing team sports and trying things,” she said, adding that she thinks being “exposed to a variety” of activities is important for young people today. As for herself, Catherine loves all sports, but especially those that involve water, she said: “Personally, I love swimming,” she said, adding that she is especially fond of cold, rainy conditions (to each their own…).

William also revealed the only time he cried during a sporting event, and that it happened when he watched his cousin Zara win a silver medal in equestrian at the 2012 Olympics. (Her mother, Anne, also competed in the Olympics.) “The only time I’ve ever cried when watching sport was when Zara won, I think, it was the European championship,” he said. “I was down in Exmore at the time, camping. We were all huddling around the phone watching it. She was there, she was blubbing away, the flag was going up. I was in pieces.” Catherine added “I can remember, because you came back and said ‘I’ve never been so proud of anyone.’”

The group reminisced on the London Olympics in 2012 and the “coming together of a nation.” William described Chris Hoy winning gold as one of his most memorable, “spine-tingling” moments of the Games. “It was phenomenal, and I think Chris Hoy at the Velodrome was one of my all-time favorite moments. We were both there shouting and yelling. It was this cauldron of noise, and it was just so exciting.”

William and Catherine are famously competitive, especially with each other, and on the podcast, Tindall said he recalled Catherine playing beer pong (!). “Where did you, I’m not going to say you’re uber competitive, [but] I’ve seen her play beer pong,” Tindall said. In response, Catherine jokingly denied that she was competitive at all. Later, she pointed to William and admitted they were very competitive with each other: “I don’t think we’ve managed to finish a game of tennis, the two of us,” she said. “It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.” William agreed, adding that they try to “out mental” each other.

While the joint podcast appearance might puzzle some at first blush, it makes sense—Tindall is a former rugby player, and Catherine is the patron of English Rugby, William is the patron of Welsh rugby, and Anne is the patron of Scottish Rugby.