In a smart blazer, crisp white shirt, black ballet pumps and a black and white check skirt, her hair scraped back in a pony tail to reveal neat pearl earrings, Maria Theresa Borrallo was photographed at work for the first time and you could almost have missed her.
But Nanny Maria is a crucial part of team Cambridge and she starts her tenure with probably the most testing of royal tasks – a three week tour in two realms on the other side of the world staying as hosts of the respective Governor-Generals on unfamiliar territory.
Joining an elite coterie of royal nannies before her, Nanny Maria will shape the childhood of a future king. It’s an incredibly important role, responsible for the physical, emotional and educational well-being of the third in line to the throne and if Prince George’s chirpy demeanour yesterday is anything to go by, she’s already doing a good job.
The 43-year-old Spaniard was hired by Kensington Palace a few months ago and personally vetted by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. She is the replacement for 71-year-old nanny Jessie Webb, Prince William’s nanny who came out of retirement to help out with baby George. Ms Borrallo has been hired full-time with live-in rooms at Kensington Palace.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive in New Zealand with Prince George yesterday.
While much was made of the couple breaking with tradition to hire a European nanny, actually Ms Borrallo comes from the finest of royal traditions being a graduate from Norland College, training ground for the nurseries of the British aristocracy.
Norland is the most prestigious nanny college in the world and Maria Theresa Borrallo’s training included special Martial Arts self-defence and “skid pan” stunt driving training to get away from paparazzi at high speed.
It also included incredibly detailed courses and exams in child development, psychology and education. There’s no question this nanny is well trained.
Ms Borrallo is reportedly single and “married to the job” and a recent lame tabloid newspaper story about her not paying her council tax in homeland Spain has received a dignified no comment for Kensington Palace.
For the Cambridges who at first tried to escape hiring a full-time nanny feeling they could do everything themselves, Maria is likely to become one of their most important members of staff, someone who really becomes a member of their family. For Prince George, she will be the touchstone in his increasingly unusual childhood, someone who can keep the cherubic lad grounded.
