Prince Louis stole the show during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend. The boisterous 4-year-old pulled faces and was incredibly exuberant during the pageant on Sunday, so much so that Meghan Markle’s friend Omid Scobie, who considers himself a royal reporter, stoked controversy by making a comment that could be seen as disparaging towards the parenting of Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

In show-business, there’s a rather common phrase: “Don’t work with children and animals.”

Any parent can tell you that even the best-behaved children can’t always keep it together, and this can even apply to royal children.

By any stretch of the imagination, Prince Louis became the center of media attention over his various antics during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, especially on the balcony during the Trooping the Color and at the Jubilee Pageant, which officially brought the festivities to the end.

Most of the public and the press saw the little boy’s various faces and actions as a reflection of a child who is being a child. Royal or not, he’s not immune from acting out and getting bored during the festivities.

It’s something that Omid Scobie, a reporter and friend of Meghan Markle’s, pointed out while tweeting a video of Prince Louis putting his hand over his mother’s mouth.

In a since deleted tweet, Scobie said, “I did wonder why Prince Louis was taken out for a while. Kids will be kids, eh?”

Many interpreted his statement as a reflection on the parenting of Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

After deleting the tweet, Scobie lamented the backlash he received.

“Because despite turning off comments (something I now try to do on any tweet about royal children), there was negativity in the quote tweets and also some insane trolls claiming ‘kids will be kids, eh?’ is ‘inciting hate.’ I’m tired and have no time or patience for clownery.”

Though objectively the comment could be seen as banal, Scobie has made it clear time and time again that he’s Team Sussex and is more known for stoking anti-Cambridge sentiment than reporting. It’s somewhat easy to see that some could interpret his comments as criticism to the Cambridges and their parenting.

As a man who is not a parent, he perhaps didn’t understand the challenges of managing a young child through a 2.5-hour event where he was over stimulated and bored. Given the unique circumstances, Catherine did an admirable job managing her excitable little boy.

There was no way for her to seriously publicly reprimand him, as she knew the eyes of the world were on her. It’s likely that his behavior, particularly covering her mouth, was not appreciated in the slightest, but what option did she have.

Well, she sent him with nanny Maria in order to give him an opportunity to chill and calm down. And, wouldn’t you know it, Louis did much better on the balcony during the finale.

Columnist Kerri Sackville wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald, “Like Kate, I copped enormous judgement for my kid’s behaviour. But that kid is now a magnificent adult. Chances are, Louis will be too. Kate, I stand in solidarity with you.

“And pageants are boring as hell.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also saw the humor of the situation, and deftly posted at the end of an Instagram post thanking everyone for participating in the jubilee that “we all had an incredible time, especially Louis…” (googly eyes emoji). It was the perfect way to end the post and pushes back against naysayers like Scobie.

No child is perfect, and that goes double for royal children. By any stretch of the imagination, Catherine and William have raised three well-adjusted children. One day and one difficult day is expected, especially for a child who’s spent most of his life out of the spotlight due to COVID.

Despite today, Prince Louis will be fine. Not only will he be fine, he may become the most popular of the British royals.