When James Middleton returned to social media after taking a break for Lent, he posted a photograph of his mother Carole reading a classic children's story to his son Inigo.
The Princess of Wales's brother tells HELLO! that the image of his two-year-old son sitting on his grandmother's lap will hopefully create the same kind of memories he had of his grandparents.
"I'm very fortunate to have my parents and that they're able to help support [in caring for Inigo]," he says in an interview to promote Goodwoof, the festival sometimes known as Glastonbury for dogs. "There's a dynamic in their having been parents [themselves]: they've fulfilled a different role [from] being a grandparent.
"I have wonderful childhood memories of my grandparents and of activities that we used to do with them, and I hope that Inigo generates the same sort of memories with my parents."
The photo, which was in a gallery that included images of James with his wife Alizee on a hike in the Lake District, shows that Carole is reading Inigo Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Benjamin Bunny.
No censorship
Benjamin Bunny is a contentious choice for modern parents - at one point, Benjamin's father punishes him by spanking him with a switch - but James thinks it is better to confront and explain such matters, rather than censor them.
"I think there's a place for the past and I don't believe in over-censoring, because it's so important to learn where you come from," he says. "A two-year-old may not fully understand it, but it's important not to overshelter that history, because you can't change history. It helps us understand why the present is the present."
© Justin Goff Photos/Getty Images
© Instagram/@jmidyHe hopes to give Inigo a flavour of his own childhood, when his parents would take him and his sisters to the Lake District to explore crags and caves "like we were something from The Famous Five", Enid Blyton's children's stories about four children and Timmy the dog.
"We're very much under way [in replicating that]. Some of the adventures that we go on with the dogs, Inigo comes with us; we're already creating that. And in turn, when Inigo is older, he'll be able to go off on his own adventures, with a dog there as well. "I remember [how Blyton's stories] played such a huge part in my imagination, in the activities and adventures that I would dream of as a youngster."
He and Alizee are amazed by how quickly their toddler is changing. "He's Mr Independent now. Everything from shoes to getting dressed is: 'No, no, I can do it. I'm a big boy.' "[I'm thinking:] 'When do I tell you that your T-shirt is the wrong way around and your shoe's on the wrong foot?'"
