17 secrets the royal nanny won’t tell you

Being a nanny has about as much in common with being a babysitter as being a doctor has in common with playing doctor. To become a nanny, at least an English nanny, one must complete a training program such as the one that Maria Borrallo, Royal Nanny for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children, took at Norland College. According to The Sun,  Norland is the creme-de-la-creme of nanny training grounds.

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Norland specialises in training royal nannies, teaching its students not just how to change babies’ nappies, but also how to escape kidnappers and avoid terrorists. “The nannies are taught everything from defensive driving to security issues, to how to care for a future king or queen,” Victoria Murphy says.

The basic training at Norland, which leads to an undergraduate level degree in ‘Early Years Development and Learning,’  is a three-year, full-time course. That is exactly the same amount of schooling it takes to become a lawyer in the US.

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With modules on Safeguarding and Child Protection, Promoting Health and Wellbeing, Making Sense of Children’s Behaviour, and Working with Families and Communities, the basic three-year degree program at Norland ends up being part child development, part child psychology, part nutrition, part security, and part social work.

In addition to the first three years, becoming fully qualified to be a royal nanny requires an additional year of practical training. The purpose of the fourth year is to ‘prepare students for the practical aspects of the care and development of children in the early years (aged zero to eight), the Norland website states. “It equips students with the practical skills and competencies…required to work…in sole charge…supporting the children and families with whom they will work.”

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A Newly Qualified Nanny (NQN) is a nanny who has completed three years of intensive early years training at Norland College. The NQN year is essentially an internship consisting of a full-time nanny position in which the NQN is employed by a family while having the support of Norland behind her.

Norland-trained nannies wear uniforms throughout their years in school and are expected to wear a uniform when working in their jobs as nannies. “This instils a sense of responsibility and pride as students represent a long and prestigious history of the highest quality,” according to the Norland website.

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In addition to physically caring for your royal charges, supporting and providing activities aimed toward their holistic development, providing well-balanced and nutritious meals, administering medicines, cleaning and tidying, running errands for the family, travelling with the children, and otherwise maintaining fully open lines of communication with the family about the children and all aspects of their care, you will be required to regularly prepare ‘documentation to keep the parents informed about their children’s care, wellbeing, and development.’

The royal nanny must assume that she will be photographed by the press, and she must assume that part of her job will be maintaining the appearance of not being interested in being photographed by the press. In addition, she’ll have to be constantly cognisant of photographers trying to snap photos of the royal children, particularly when the royal children might not be behaving as royal children ‘should be’ behaving.

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The royal nanny’s social life, family life, personal hygiene, and even her haircut have been subjected to scrutiny by the public. And before anyone can be employed at all as a royal nanny, she will be subject to a background check in the form of the UK Disclosure and Barring Service, and that background check will have to be updated every three years.