♪ love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, she loves you, yeah, yeah ♪ there's the baby, the new royal heir in the united kingdom. >> a prince is born. heir to the throne. new hope for a monarchy. but also just a little boy. ♪ his parents fighting for a normal childhood since the day he was born. >> i think driving your son and your wife away from hospital it was really important to me. i don't like fuss. so it's much easier to do it yourself. >> now prince george turns 1. >> he is boisterous. he is adventurous and confident already. >> exclusive interviews with

those who were there. >> he won you over. >> he really did win me over, i must say. he is a charming little fellow, definitely. >> watching, witnessing, and celebrating the first year for this very special baby. this is a cnn spotlight, "the little prince." ♪ >> the royal baby expected to arrive any moment now. >> we're a week late. come on. >> the rumor mill keeps swirling. people say they see things and nothing happens. >> you could be there another week, old man. >> july 2013. london was sweltering. >> it's the hottest it's been in years. >> the press and the public started gathering here at a

nondescript doorway at st. mary's hospital where a future king or queen was due to be born. >> another day, another due date. >> we hadn't been given an exact due date. and for good reason. >> victoria arbiter was reporting on the royals for cnn that summer. >> diana said when she was pregnant she felt like the whole world was watching her belly. so for kate they want to ease the pressure a little bit. >> many hoped that the baby would come early. >> july 1 is diana's birthday. the sentimentalists were hoping the baby would come on july 1. so that's the day the press showed up at the hospital. and it was a long wait until the 22nd. >> everyone was watching and waiting. even the royals themselves. >> we're all waiting for the telephone. >> but even a queen must wait, like everyone else. and where was kate waiting it out? at home in the quiet english countryside.

>> the little we have heard about her time the buckle berry, she spent some of her time on the sofa watching dvd box sets and doing prenatal yoga. that sounds very normal. >> kate is normal. kate sat heart a country girl. for her going home amid security, sanctity, she's got freedom there. >> 350. >> she still comes in. she is still kate. she is just herself. >> at john haley's local pub, middleton family friends were even wagering baby bets. >> would it be a girl or a boy and pounds. >> all in fun, which likely explains why kate always comes home to buckleberry in good times and bad. like when she and william briefly broke up in 2007. four years later, after the tragic suicide of a nurse working at the hospital where kate was being treated for acute morning sickness. >> kate really feels very safe

and very secure in that environment. she is very fortunate to have that, because diana didn't have that. >> according to author christopher anderson, kate's pregnancy was very different from diana's. >> when she was three months' pregnant with william, threw herself down the stairs at the royal estate, almost killed herself. >> anderson says princess diana was sad and lonely those early years. william would become his mother's confidante and caretaker. >> his mother locks herself in the bathroom after an argument with charles, and she is sobbing, and here is little 7-year-old william slipping tissues under the door and saying i hate to see you sad, mummy. he was always somebody who was very, very sensitive to other people's feelings. >> sensitive as a child and as a grown man, like protecting kate's privacy when she went into lane mere the early morning hours of july 22nd. they drove without a royal entourage, with minimal security from kensington palace to the

back entrance of st. mary's hospital in an unmarked minivan. >> a couple paparazzi photographers saw kate sneaking in the side and they didn't release the pictures. they respected her privacy. and that's unusual. >> no, that is beyond unusual. >> no one is ever going to forget that the paparazzi were responsible in part for diana's death. >> it was about 6:00 a.m. on july 22nd, and few knew that kate, one of the most famous women in the world, was about to give birth. it became official at 7:30. >> we begin with breaking news this morning. the royal baby is on his or her way. >> just to give you a sense of the public gathering down there, same at the other end of the road. huge amount of media. >> the great kate wait was finally coming to an end. >> i've got my two phones in front of me because we're expecting an announcement. >> and finally, 12 hours later,

that announcement came, surprisingly made first through e-mail and twitter. >> okay. her royal highness, the duchess of cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4:24 p.m. local time. the baby weighs 8 pounds, 6 ounce. >> it was a truly digital moment. >> cnn's max foster was reporting live from the hospital that day. >> the announcement was actually made a few hours after george was born. kate and william actually keeping things for themselves before they delivered it to the wide world. >> prince william later told foster in an exclusive interview that those early hours were filled with many exciting firsts, including the first diaper change. >> badge of honor. >> badge of honor. i wasn't allowed to get away with it. i had every mid watch saying you do it, you do it. >> that's very much kate and william, hands-on parents and in control of their own lives, and now george's life. >> in control, doing things

their own way the very next morning. >> i believe they are coming out now. oh, sorry, false alarm. >> while the world waited for the grand introduction, kate and william took their time inside, getting ready. >> there was a hairdresser, for example, and we saw clothes going in and out. so they were preparing for a big media moment. we were happy to show him off to whoever wanted to see him. as every new parent knows, you're only happy to show off your new child and proclaim he is the best looking or the best ever. >> there is the baby, the new royal heir of the united kingdom. >> it was just like william's parents had done nearly three decades earlier. yet this time they did it the william and kate way, posing for a long time, even answering questions. >> he's got a good pair of lungs, that's for sure. >> it's a very emotional moment. it's a special time. >> can we see the baby? >> and then william bravely facing every new father's biggest fear, correctly

attaching the car seat as the world watched. >> i had to practice. i really did. i was terrified that i was going to do some -- it was going to fall off or it wasn't going to close properly. >> and in a big break from tradition, prince william took to the wheel, deciding to drive his new family home himself. >> i think driving your son and your wife away from hospital, it was really important to me. i don't like fuss. so it's much easier to do it yourself. >> something that would continue throughout the early months of baby george's life. coming up, how doing it their own way would quickly lead the cambridges and the world's most famous newborn outside the safety of the palace walls. the cadillac summer collection is here.

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there's the baby, the new royal heir. >> as quickly as prince george made his debut on the world scene, he vanished from the intense spotlight.

>> and then as they drove off, that was william saying okay, we're done. leave us alone now. >> alone would mean taking prince george far from the place where royal newborns usually spend those early days, inside palace walls. >> kate feels under siege there, because every time she goes out of the palace, there are photographers waiting. >> so going home where she had some help, but also where they had their freedom. and so i think for her, it really was just a blessing to be able to retreat to bucklebury. >> a decision that reportedly was met with protests from the highest ranks in the palace, even the queen. >> once a royal is within the grounds of a palace, they are perfectly safe. so to take them out of that safety and put them in an environment where anything could happen, it's certainly a worry. >> but william and kate were determined to do things their own way.

and that meant making bucklebury safe. police patrolled the streets on horseback. helicopters with heat-seeking technology flew overhead, and royal armed guards stood watch. while the security was immense outside the middleton home, inside it was just family. >> they were getting up at a night, they were changing all of the nappies. they were both exhausted, but elated, very excited. they were enjoying it. so they didn't have a whole entourage of staff. >> instead, grandmother carol middleton took on the role of royal nanny, and grandfather michael middleton became the royal photographer. >> it was really important for kate and william to have those first few days and weeks together on their own as a family. and that's why they didn't have a formal photographer coming in and taking formal photographs. >> their seclusion wouldn't last long.

by august 15th, william went back to work, back to the royal air force and back to anglesey. >> thank you for making my wife and me so welcome when we arrived here. >> this is the island off the coast of northern wales the cambridges called home for more than three years. they r. >> they live near this beach, right? >> they're about a few miles behind us. >> euan hughes is the head of tourism in anglesey. >> their house is pretty normal. it's not spectacular in the way people would expect. >> anglesey for them was living as a normal family for at least a section of their lives. ♪ >> as william met with locals just weeks after george's birth, we get the first hint of how normal things were behind private nursery doors. >> i have to say that i thought search and rescue duties over snowdonia were physically and mentally demanding. but looking after a 3-week-old baby is right up there.

>> but their time in anglesey would be short-lived. just weeks later, london was calling. the end of william's service in the royal air force brought the beginning of their life at the newly renovated kensington palace. >> a lot of work had to be carried out on apartment 1a. >> victoria arbiter lived at kensington palace as a teenager, growing up with prince william when her father worked pour the royal family, including princess diana. >> when they were home, her house was full of laughter and joy. when the boys were at school, i think she was incredibly lonely. >> when you know and understand those low moments, does it then at all give you any surprise that he wanted to live there, that he wanted to raise his own child there? >> it was about creating new happy memories, it being a safe, happy place to raise his son. >> new memories like prince george's christening in october. >> the choice of the chapel

royale at st. james palace for the christening, that was no accident. it was where diana's body lay at rest in the days leading up to the funeral. >> with another couple it would have been a bigger affair at buckingham palace. but again, kate and william, wanting to keep things tight and small with close family and friends, people they absolutely rely on and trust. >> cameras outside the chapel were keenly focused on the star of the day. >> he is so sweet, isn't he? >> he won you over. >> he really did win me over. i must say. he is a charming little fellow, definitely. >> jason bell had a front row seat. he was the photographer handpicked by william and kate to capture this historic event. he told us exclusively about his first meeting with the royal couple. >> i got a call saying, you know, come and have a cup of tea with the duke and duchess. >> a meeting that went so well, bell was hired, and by all

accounts, was able to deliver, capturing unique, almost candid moments with the family. >> the prince is putting his arms up. you can't script that moment. it's just a sweet moment. it feels very real. they're real parents and he is a real baby. >> and the real great grandson of a doting great grandmother, the queen, who bell caught for one moment gazing as george while everyone else looked at the camera. >> i didn't say to the queen, you know, you must now look at prince george. and she did and we caught that moment. >> remember, this was no ordinary christening, and no ordinary photo shoot. this day was historic, especially this moment. it's the first time a queen and three generations of heirs have been photographed together in more than 100 years. >> it feels like a moment in time, you know. you know that this person will be king one day. and he is being presented to the world. >> just the beginning of a life

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april 2014 started off terribly. >> it was driving rain.

it was very cold, lots of wind. >> max foster was on the ground when the cambridges arrived in new zealand for their first official family visit abroad. >> she came off the plane, and the steps were very slippery. the wind was blowing up her skirt. she was pushing that down. and she looked at complete ease. i think that was a pretty extraordinary moment, a great performance, can i say. >> and kate wasn't the only one putting on a good show. >> george was quite a sight. he had this huge bank of flashing lights in front of him, which he was fascinated by, and a lineup of dignitaries. he didn't know who they were, of course. >> george is like the secret weapon in the royal family. and they saw kate step off the plane holding that baby, and the monarchy is riding high again in terms of popularity. >> it was the first glimpse the world had gotten of george since his christening in october the year before.

now nine months old, george was already a big boy. >> i was quite shocked at how different he looked. i love this -- >> christening photographer jason bell exclusively photographed george right before he left for new zealand. >> he was much more a little boy. he was crawling around and, you know, they grow up so quick, don't they? >> growing up and chasing around his playmate, the family dog. >> there is clearly some sort of, you know, affinity between prince george and the dog. >> no longer a newborn, prince george was ready to make his first official visit, just like his father william had done three decades earlier. march 1983, the prince and princess of wales toured australia and new zealand. william was the first heir to be brought along on a trip at such a young age. >> it was a huge deal that diana took william.

and she made it very clear she was not going without him. >> not even his father, prince charles, was allowed to travel with his mother, queen elizabeth, when he was a young boy. >> she and prince philip embarked on a six-month tour of the commonwealth. >> six months? >> six months. so i'm sure for the queen it was very difficult to leave her children behind. >> but william would not be left behind. the trip was the first time the world really saw them as a family. >> and it was the first time that the public got to see prince william crawl. >> in the end, it was one of the very few times william was seen during that trip. william and kate would do things very differently. >> william and kate would travel to the various engagements during the day, and come back this the evening to have that time with george. there were far fewer engagements, but it was what they were happy to do while also making sure george's needs were met.

>> and while his parents were away, george was cared for by this woman, maria teresa boralo. nanny maria was hired in march. from spain, she trained at the prestigious new orleans college. >> for over 120 years, new orleans has had a worldwide reputation for delivering the very best training for early years professionals. >> they only trained a very small amount of nannies per year. >> rosemary also trained at new orleans college, learning everything from basic child care to defensive driving even self-defense. >> they are having to make sure they are equally as safe in their own homes as they are when they're out on the road. >> these nannies have to worry about kidnap attempts. they have to worry about intrusive paparazzi photographers. and you don't want a nanny that suddenly freaks in that situation, falls apart. >> you want a nanny that has a black belt. >> you do. you want a manny that can handle any situation.

>> important skills for the woman caring for the future king of england. and yet there are some things you likely won't see. >> i don't think you're ever going to see the nanny carrying george when the duke and duchess are there, equally capable of carrying him, because i think their view is that they do the parenting. >> like when he excitedly met a billby named after him at the zoo. or when he had a playdate in new zealand. >> obviously he has no idea that he is the most important person in the room at this point. but he is boisterous. he is adventurous. and confident already. >> and while george was playing, kate was with the other moms. >> i'm sure they were just swapping stories about matthew sleeps at nights. what i do think is when they choose engagements, they choose things that will make them feel comfortable. >> we saw a very happy family, but we also saw a family that are prepared to turn it on for

the cameras when it is in an official capacity, but they expect to be left alone when they're off-duty. >> as their plane left australia, the cambridges disappeared again from public view. then two months later, we saw george on father's day at the polo field. stealing the spotlight and making worldwide headlines for taking his first steps in public. >> i think it was quite a sweet image and an informal image showing how hands-on kate is, and ridiculously, those dungarees that george was wearing sold out immediately around the planet. so now he is a fashion icon as well. >> no doubt the first of what will likely be many iconic moments for prince george. >> there are expectations on

these royal children. it's going to be a team effort raising george with william and kate leading the charge. >> the beginning of a long journey for a little boy, a little prince who will one day be king. ♪ ♪ i found the greatest >> an unforgettable voice. ♪ the greatest love of all >> silenced after a troubled life. two years after her tragic death, a look at whitney houston. her life, her music. ♪