Gay Dads to Have Royal Playdate

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be taking 8 month old Prince George to meet a number of other babies from families of all different backgrounds, including gay couple Jared and Ryan Mullen.

Ten families have been chosen to meet the young royal family at a playgroup organised by parent support organisation Plunket on Wednesday afternoon.

This will reportedly be Prince George’s first major public engagement, and will be held at the home of the Governor-General: Government House in Wellington.

Tina Syme, Plunket’s area manager for Wellington, was tasked with choosing the ten local families who would be meeting the Duke and Duchess. She reportedly chose children who had been born within weeks of Prince George’s birth date of July 22nd last year. She also tried to source diverse families, including a gay couple, single mother and parents of various ethnic backgrounds.

Tristine Clark, New Zealand president of Plunket, had this to say: “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.”

Jared and Ryan Mullen’s daughter Isabella will be one of the children allowed to play with the prince at what is thought to be the first occasion where he will be playing with a large number of other babies.

The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, known commonly as Plunket, as a family support service that was named after its 1908 patron, Victoria Plunket, wife of the then Governor General. Plunket reportedly assists more than 90% of babies born in New Zealand with services including free childcare service, home visits, and child car seat rental.

The selected families have expressed that they are excited to meet the Duke and Duchess and share their experiences of being first time parents.