Kate Middleton and Prince William's Real-Life Mary Poppins! Get to Know Royal Nanny Maria
Chris Jackson/Getty Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo and Queen Elizabeth
While Kate Middleton and Prince William are hands-on parents to their three children, they also have the help of their trusted nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
Borrallo has been a key part of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's household since their son Prince George, now 9, was just 8 months old. She also helped raise Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, while living with the family at their Kensington Palace home.
However, Kate and Prince William are making Adelaide Cottage on Queen Elizabeth's Windsor estate their new home base — and it comes with a major change. With four bedrooms, Borrallo is expected to live at another property while remaining a caretaker for the Cambridge kids.
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Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo
Borrallo was born in Spain and studied at U.K.'s Norland College, which prides itself on being the first educational establishment to offer childcare training. There, students are taught everything from child brain development to first aid to evasive driving techniques.
Borrallo made her first public appearance after becoming a royal nanny when she joined Prince William and Kate during their 2014 tour of New Zealand and Australia. Prince George was just 9 months old at the time, and Nanny Maria was on-hand to care for him while the couple took on their royal duties.
Max Mumby/Getty Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo with Princess Charlotte
Since then, Borrallo often joins the family on their travels, whether they are spending a weekend at their country home of Anmer Hall or Kate and William are heading on a royal tour with their children in tow.
Borrallo can often be spotted at royal events such as Trooping the Colour, where she might be seen peeking out the Buckingham Palace window with the children, or royal weddings, where she helps keep the young bridesmaids and page boys on their best royal behavior.
Chris Jackson/Getty Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo with Prince George
Perhaps her most well-known appearance came at Princess Charlotte's christening in 2015. Nanny Maria appeared alongside Prince William, Kate, Prince George and Queen Elizabeth to celebrate the family's new addition. She was sporting her Norland College uniform, a brown dress with a bowler hat, and drew comparisons to the world's most famous fictional nanny, Mary Poppins.
According to the college's website, founder Emily Ward — who established the school in 1892 — introduced the uniform so that Norland Nurses (as the graduates were originally known) would be recognized as professionals and "not mistaken for housemaids."
"Maria loves the children dearly," a source previously told PEOPLE. "She can be firm and strict, but she is very loving and soft with them too."
Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo at Princess Charlotte's christening
Above all, Borrallo possesses the key skill of a modern royal nanny: the ability to always be present when needed but never to overstep.
"In the past, royal nannies were employed almost entirely on the basis of referrals from the extended royal family and British aristocracy," says Carolyn Harris, author of Raising Royalty. "Today, royal nannies need to strike a delicate balance between providing care and emotional support for their charge while not being seen to interfere with the decision-making of royal parents."
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Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Prince William and Kate Middleton with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
Royal parents historically often relied on nannies while they carried out their public duties — when Prince Charles and Princess Anne were young, they were only able to see their monarch mother at two appointed "meetings" each day. Even when Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born in the 1960s, it was a "nanny-dominated world," biographer Ingrid Seward previously told PEOPLE.
However, Princess Diana made sure to take a hands-on approach with her boys, even bringing a nearly 1-year-old William on tour, a first for a royal baby.
Kate and Prince William, both 40, have followed Diana's lead. They try to maintain privacy and normality for their children, including ordinary trips to the supermarket or snacking from the trunk of the car while William plays polo.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Prince William and Kate Middleton with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis
Prince William is "very much the modern dad," according to Seward. He makes sure to practice "active listening" by squatting down to his children's eye level when speaking with them — a move that inspired actress Anne Hathaway to do the same.
Meanwhile, Kate "runs things at home with the kids and the schedules," a friend told PEOPLE. "She is hugely involved in every single part of their day."