They may be royal, but Kate Middleton and Prince William experience the same hardships as other parents.
During a visit to Sure Start on Thursday – part of the couple’s two-day visit to Northern Ireland – Kate and William learned how the program supports parents with children under the age of 4 living in disadvantaged areas.
The parents of three – Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and Prince Louis, 10 months – were able to relate to the fellow parents on struggles like losing sleep, saying they opt to wake with their children despite having childcare help.
“They were chatting a bit about sleep deprivation,” mother-of-two Kathryn Ward told Hello! magazine. “Even though they get the help that they have, they’re still parents as well and want to get up with their own kids. So they understand the stresses and pressures were going through, even though they got a couple of people more hands on. They were fantastic. Really on our level.”
Prince William and Kate shared during their annual walk to Christmas Day church services that their two eldest children were quite eager to celebrate the holiday.
When a fan asked the pair how early they got up, William replied, “This morning was about 5 a.m.” Kate smiled at the answer as the crowd moaned at the early time.
Another royal fan, Jill Lee, told reporters that Kate shared a similar story. “I said to Kate, ‘Were the children up early?’ and she said, ‘Very early, but it was lovely to see their faces,’ ” according to Hello!
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During their visit to Sure Start, Kate also bonded with the fellow mothers about overcoming breastfeeding struggles.
“They were really encouraging about breastfeeding,” attendee Rebecca White told Hello! “They said we were all doing a good job, that it was really hard, it was a struggle and well done for keeping going.”
This article originally appeared on People. For more stories like this, visit people.com.