How Georgie porgie grabbed a girl... and made her cry: Little Prince reduces a playmate to tears on his first official royal engagement

He's bound to break a few hearts when he’s older, but no one expected Prince George to get off to such an early start.
Undertaking his first ever official engagement, the future king managed to reduce a young girl to tears by unwittingly making a grab at her arm.
The young royal took the media attention - and everyone else’s toys - in his stride.
The event, which took place in the elegantly-appointed Blundell Room at Government House, the residence of the Queen’s official representative in New Zealand, had been organised by the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, which offers free parental support services to new babies.

He's bound to break a few hearts when he¿s older, but no one expected Prince George to get off to such an early start. Undertaking his first ever official engagement, the future king managed to reduce a young girl to tears by unwittingly making a grab at her arm

As the Duchess began chatting to British-born Jenny Stevens, 34, and her Kiwi husband Mark, 43, the young Royal spotted something far more interesting - their little girl Paige. George waved his arms to get her attention and touched Paige's face before grabbing her toy wooden doll 

As Paige started crying and buried her face in her mother's arms, Mrs Stevens reassured the Duchess: 'Paige grabs toys, she's just started teething.' Kate, who tried to comfort the blonde-haired tot, replied: 'George too'

Meanwhile little George looks on, a little confused at all the fuss, as little Paige turns to her mother for comfort

Their idea was to give the William and Kate the opportunity to introduce their son to the world in a less formal manner than usual - and offer the royal couple a chance to swap anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of being first-time parents.
Ten lucky babies were chosen from the Wellington area to attend, all of whom were born within a few weeks of his own birthday, on July 22 last year.
That said, not all of those who attend were plucked out of the hat by chance: it was a self-confessed politically correct gathering and included two gay fathers, a single mother, and babies of Maori, Samoan, Asian and even Polish descent.
As the media were invited in to view the slightly chaotic proceedings, the Duchess of Cambridge, wearing a now sold out £390 black and white Tory Burch knitted dress (its colours were chosen in honour of the New Zealand flag) and a £5,500 Cartier Ballon Bleu watch, was standing with George on her hip.
The little prince was kitted out fairly formally in £75 navy smocked dungarees with a sail boat design on the front by British brand Rachel Riley.
He was in the words of one onlooker, a ‘rather gorgeous bruiser’ of a baby: solid from head to foot and with chunky little legs.
Such was his size, Kate, 31, was forced to move her son from hip to hip in order to carry him as she politely swapped stories about teething and weaning with the other parents.

Prince George shares a playdate with ten lucky families at Government House in Wellington on Wednesday and shows he's starting to crawl

 

The gorgeous eight-month-old appeared very taken with one particular toy, holding it in the air and giggling as he played on the floor of the stately home

Sitting cross legged on the floor, the young prince was animated as he called out to his mother

George, however, was clearly bored, waving his arms in the air and kicking his legs as if to say: ‘Just put me down, mum!’
The little prince, who apparently has four or five teeth coming through including the bottom front two, then grabbed a lock of his mother’s famous long, brunette hair and did what only an eight-month-old baby could get away with - shove it into his mouth and start gnawing.
Suddenly, however, he spotted something far more interesting - a little girl called Paige, who was with her parents, British-born Jenny Stevens, 34, and Kiwi dad Mark, 43.
George cunningly waved his arms to get her attention and touched Paige’s face - before grabbing her toy wooden doll.
As Paige started crying and buried her face in her mother’s arms, Mrs Stevens reassured the Duchess: ‘Paige grabs toys, she’s just started teething.’ Kate replied: ‘George too.’
As Kate stroked Paige’s hair in an attempt to comfort her, she handed her son a blue plastic block which he put in his mouth but then promptly threw on the floor.

Prince George hugged tightly to his mother's arms as William, who had been swapping stories with the other parents, looked on

The young royal was presented with a giant and very fluffy blue bear by an an organiser at the Plunket event

George looked a little wary of the large stuffed toy and didn't seem to keen to get any closer

George seemed to be enjoying his playdate and an endless selection of toys

Finally she got the message and put him down on the plush French-grey patterned carpet.
George immediately set off at a gallop grabbing toys indiscriminately including a toy tambourine, a drum and a spiral puzzle.
The third in line to the throne is clearly a little boy who knows his own mind - pulling himself up towards the other children and regularly snatching any toy that took his fancy.
As his mother watched on protectively, occasionally wiping some dribble from his chin, Prince William, chatted to some of the other parents.
‘It’s madness, there are babies everywhere!’ he exclaimed.
Meanwhile his son proved that he hasn’t just mastered the art of crawling, but is close to being able to cruise - when babies are finally able to pull themselves up unaided on, say, the sofa in preparation to walk.
Allowing her son to hold onto her fingers, Kate gently pulled him to feet, George happily bouncing on those gorgeously chubby legs with an impressive confidence.

A multi-coloured toy caught George's attention but he didn't seem too pleased when he eventually got a hold of it

The toy shall be mine! Prince George likes the look of a small doll that one of the other children was playing with and makes a grab for it

The Duchess of Cambridge spoke to a number of parents as the young prince scratched his ears

THE 'GEORGE EFFECT': THE FASHION SENSE OF BRITAIN'S YOUNG PRINCE

For his first official engagement, George looked very cute in navy smocked dungarees from British label Rachel Riley.
The dungarees, which Prince George wore over a white shirt and blue booties, featured a sail boat design on the front and retail for £77 (AUD$125).
The little prince has already caused fashion sensations during the Royal Tour. The kangaroo backpack, which Prince William was seen holding when his plane touched down in Sydney, sold out within hours of the family's appearance at Sydney airport.

Dad Ryan Tunstall said: 'Isabella and George had a lot of fun on the drums.
'It was a pleasure sharing our beautiful baby with the duke and duchess The whole thing was a wonderful highlight.'
Grant Collins, 38, and Magda Gurbowicz, 35 met the royals with baby Lucas.
Grant said: 'We found out Lucas had more teeth than George so he's winning that race!
'George has got about four or five teeth coming through. Lucas has got his seventh coming on.
'We chatted to the Duke first and asked about how they and George coped with the jet-lag.
'William said sleeping and distracting (the baby) was the best thing to get over jet-lag and that's what they'd done with George.
We spoke to the Duchess about group play - George had never played with so many babies before.
'She said it was the most amount of babies they'd ever had in a room with George.
'He does see other babies, but not many in a group like this.
'George is bubbly, quite feisty and he took control. He crawled to the centre of the room and he owned the place.

Quite enthralled with his new toy, George looked up and gurgled in the direction of his mother

The young prince looked a tad bemused as he inspected his toy while one of his playmates gazed with equal perplexity at hers, he then lifted his toy as the girl attempted to put hers in her mouth

He then made his way over to some of the other brightly coloured toys scattered across the floor of the stately home

Young George didn't seem too interested in one of the young girls, that is until she reached out to touch his face

Kate enjoyed chatting to the other mothers at the playgroup but she could barely take her eyes off her darling George

Plunket, the organisation behind the playdate wrote a special note to Prince George expressing their excitement about meeting him

He honed in on certain toys and took the ones that he wanted, no-one was going to stand in his way!'
Gay parents Jared Mullen and Ryan McRae, who have baby Isabella, spoke about their experience afterwards.
Mr Mullen said: 'Isabella and George had a little play together, they were chums.
'In a way all we did was talk about babies. The Duke and Duchess were lovely, they were both very relaxed and we chatted about our experiences as first time parents.
'He (George) is a lovely little boy, very intrepid.
'The whole thing has been a huge privilege. It was lovely to meet the Duke and Duchess and share our beautiful children with them.  They are both very lovely and loving parents.
'George liked the drum and the standing up play station.
'At the end of the day it comes back to the fact that we are first time parents.'
Mr McRae added: 'It was such a big day.'
Grant Collins added: 'The Duchess said George was sleeping well through the night and that he's on solid food now so that has really helped his sleeping.'
Sheila and Soani Lemalie met the royals with baby TJ (TagiiLima).
Sheila, who works in childcare, looked lovely - and very patriotic - in a traditional blue Samoan dress, with white flowers and red necklace.
She said: 'It was a very special time. We had a chance to cuddle George - he is very strong and very advanced.
'We talked to the Duke and Duchess about parenting - and to the Duchess about her role as both a mother and a royal.

George seemed to have a very close bond with his doting mother

Prince William spent most of his time sharing his and Kate's parenting experience with the other parents

A few of the other first-time parents gathered around Kate as she lifted her son to his feet. The playgroup is made up of ten families whose children were born within two weeks of George's July 22 birthday

Both Kate and George seemed in high spirits

'She said she was lucky to have help with George from her family and her friends. She is very down-to-earth and charming - they both are.
'Prince William said he supported his wife by giving George his bottle at night and putting him to bed.
'I was very nervous because this was my first time experience meeting royalty. I feel very special.
'Different children develop differently but George is very advanced for his age.
'He was crawling and wanting to walk in an advanced way - more so than my son who is younger than him.'George is almost trying to walk - he can pull himself up and he is almost there. He will be crawling soon.' 
All of the babies present were from local families and chosen by the organisation, which provides health care and support to new families, known in New Zealand simply as Plunket.
The idea was to give the William and Kate the opportunity to introduce George to the world in a less formal way than usual and give the couple a chance to swap anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of being first-time parents.
Kate Bainbridge, 29, a tax accountant whose daughter Sophie was born on July 11, said in advance of the meeting: ‘I’ve had a few jealous looks from other parents when they found out we were meeting the Duke and Duchess.
'Even though we come from a very different background we have got a lot in common with the Duke and Duchess because we’ve been through the sleepless nights and we can talk to them about our experiences.
‘We are all first-time parents, like them, so it should be quite easy to chat to them.’

A toy held by another child catches the prince's eye as the Duchess makes faces to draw his attention

While the Duchess was very hands on with her young son, George's nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo (L) was also keeping an eye on the young prince

Philip Gray, 40, who was due to meet the couple with his wife Alana, 31, and daughter Lily, born on July 16, said: ‘The good thing about kids is they’re unpredictable so I’m sure there will be a lot of laughter. Babies are a great ice-breaker.’
Also meeting the royal visitors will be gay fathers Jared Mullen and Ryan McRae and their daughter Isabella.  
Jared, from Oregon, US, and Ryan, from Australia, were chosen to represent the growing numbers of same-sex couples in New Zealand who use Plunket’s parental support services.
Tristine Clark, New Zealand president of Plunket, said: ‘The parents are a spread of all the communities in New Zealand, including Maoris, Samoans, people of Chinese descent and gay couples. This is a very multi-cultural country and we wanted the Duke and Duchess to meet people from all backgrounds.’
Mrs Clark said the Duke and Duchess did not specifically ask to meet a gay couple, leaving the choice of parents entirely down to Plunket.
Tina Syme, Plunket’s area manager for Wellington, was the woman tasked with choosing the ten sets of parents. She said she started by looking for local couples whose children were born around the same time as Prince George, looked for parents from diverse backgrounds  - including a single mother - and tried to get an even split of girls and boys.
‘The first 10 people who I called and who picked up the phone are the ones who will be attending,’ she said. ‘There are some couples who I called and who have missed out because they didn’t answer.’
Mr Gray said he will be the third generation of his family to meet a royal visitor. His grandfather Bob Graham met the Queen when he was serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and his father Robert Gray met the Prince of Wales.

The young royal appeared more interested with his mother's hair than the other children and was seen gently pulling her brunette tresses away from the Duchess' face

The young prince seemed completely besotted with his beautiful mother as he gazed into her eyes

The adorable eight-month-old appeared relaxed as Kate proudly introduced him to the other first time parents

Held securely in his mother's arms, George pulled at his mother's hair while looking displeased (L) she then bent down to pick up a toy (R)

‘Now I’m meeting the next two generations down, and maybe our daughter will met Prince George’s children one day,’ said Mr Gray, an accountant.
His wife Alana, who works in marketing, said: ‘We followed the Duchess’s pregnancy and birth because it was happening at the same that I was pregnant. It’s a nice link to the UK.’
The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, known to all as Plunket, was founded in 1907 by paediatrician Sir Frederic Truby King. He wanted to help babies and mothers dying of malnutrition and disease, and in 1908 the influential Victoria Plunket, wife of the then Governor-General, became its patron, giving the organisation her name.
Today Plunket, a non-profit organisation, helps more than 90 per cent of all babies born in New Zealand, with free childcare advice, home visits and other services.
Its mission is to ‘ensure that New Zealand children are among the healthiest in the world’.
Earlier this week it caused controversy by fitting a forward-facing car seat for eight-month-old Prince George in the Cambridges’ official car, despite telling parents all children under the age of two should be in rear-facing seats.
The Duke and Duchess enjoyed a day of rest and recuperation with George yesterday after arriving in Wellington on Monday.
The couple were welcomed with a traditional ceremony on the lawns of Government House where they were greeted by the New Zealand Governor General Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae, his wife Lady Janine and Maori elders.

Prince George began his tour of Australia and New Zealand with his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Monday

YACHTS, ROCKS AND GLAMPING: KATE AND WILLIAM'S ACTION-PACKED TOUR 

Christchurch is New Zealand's third biggest city and was devastated by earthquakes in February 2011, which killed 185 people

MONDAY APRIL 7:  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George arrive in Wellington on Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft. Ceremonial welcome at Government House including a Maori Powhiri, guard of honour and 21 gun salute.
TUESDAY APRIL 8: Day of leisure for family after 25-hour flight.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 9: Engagement to recognise work of the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society at Government House.
THURSDAY APRIL 10: Wreath-laying and Commemoration, War Memorial, Blenheim, attended by veterans and senior politicians. Then onto the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre for the Knights of the Sky exhibition and WWI vehicle and aircraft display with Sir Peter Jackson. Meeting with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Wellington and State Reception given by Governor General at Government House. Prince William to give first speech of the tour and unveil a portrait of The Queen.
FRIDAY APRIL 11:  William and Kate fly to Auckland for a visit to the RNZAF at Whenaupai, home to more than a thousand service personnel. The couple will also celebrate New Zealand’s Americas Cup winning teams by joining a yacht race on ‘his and hers’ boats before boarding a ‘Sealegs’ amphibious craft in the harbour and travel to Westpark Marina before returning home to George.
SATURDAY APRIL 12: The Duke and Duchess travel to the Waikato region of the North Island where William will visit the Pacific Aerospace company at Hamilton Airport, viewing the P-750 aircraft. Kate will attend the Rainbow Place children’s hospice.
The couple will then travel together to the town of Cambridge to pay their respects at their war memorial and then onto the new national velodrome, the Avantidrome, to meet the country’s recent Olympic medallists. They will start a number of races and view a BMX display.
SUNDAY APRIL 13: The couple’s first night away from George on a trip to Dunedin. William and Kate will be greeted by representatives of the Ngai Tahu tribe of the South Island before attending a Pal Sunday Service at the Cathedral Church of St Paul.
The Cambridges will then travel to the city’s famed rugby stadium for a festival of Rippa – non contact – Rugby with local youngsters and All Blacks stars.

Amisfield vineyard was established in 1988 and produces Pinot Noir and white wines

They will then fly to Queenstown to visit the Amisfield vineyard to sample local wines and food before experiencing a 50mph white water rafting expedition through the canyons of the Shotover River. The couple will stay overnight at a local hotel.
MONDAY APRIL 14: The couple fly to Christchurch to pay tribute to the 185 lives lost in the 2011 earthquake. They will be greeted with a Ngai Tahu welcome and then tour the central business district, which was worst hit by the catastrophe.
They will also attend an event to celebrate the coming of the 2015 Cricket World Cup to the region and then travel to the Wigram Air Force Museum to view the city’s rebuilding plans and attend a chamber of commerce business lunch. Before they leave, William and Kate will view the Memorial Wall dedicated to those in the air force who have died in service of their country.
TUESDAY APRIL 15: William, Kate and George will spend the day together privately ahead of the Australian leg of their trip.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 16: The couple will visit the Royal New Zealand Police College outside Wellington, opened by Prince Charles 30 years ago, where they will acknowledge the sacrifice of the 29 officers killed in service. They will view several demonstrations including dog handling.
William and Kate will then sign a visitors book back in Wellington and say farewell to members of the public before embarking with George on the three hour flight to Australia.

The Royal Easter Show at Sydney Olympic Park promotes and displays livestock, rural merchandise and produce

Arriving in Sydney they will head straight to the Sydney Opera House for a reception thrown by the Governor and Premier of New South Wales. William is expected to give a short speech to mark the start of the visit. The couple will then travel by boat across Sydney Harbour to Admiralty House, the residence of the Governor-General, which will be the base for their stay.
THURSDAY APRIL 17: Visit to the Blue Mountains to meet families affected by the recent bushfires.
FRIDAY APRIL 18: Good Friday and a visit to the Royal Easter Show at Sydney Olympic Park which celebrates the country’s culture and rural traditions. The couple will then travel to Manly to visit the Bear Cottage children’s hospice and then onto Manly Beach for a display by surf live-saving volunteers.
SATURDAY APRIL 19: A visit to the Royal Australian Air Force at Amberley where they will inspect the Guard and view aircraft and their crews. They will also plant a tree in the Memorial Garden before attending a reception for personnel and their families. They will then travel into Brisbane to attend a reception hosted by the Governor and Premier of Queensland for local young people.
SUNDAY APRIL 20: Easter Sunday service at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney where they will sign the First Fleet Bible, used in the first Christian service held in Australia in 1788.
The couple – and possibly Prince George – will then visit Taronga Zoo including the Bilby Enclosure named after their son. They will also view kangaroos, koala, giraffe and birds of prey. They will then fly onto Canberra, their base for the rest of the tour.
MONDAY APRIL 21: Easter Monday and a private day for the family.
TUESDAY APRIL 22: William and Kate visit Uluru – Ayer’s Rock – their second night away from George. They will meet Aboriginals at the National Indigenous Training Academy and enjoy a ‘welcome to country’ ceremony at the Uluru Cultural Centre before attending afternoon tea with the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. Later in the day they will visit the rock itself in the company of a local guide and will remain overnight in the area.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the Northern Territory

DM