Who is Maria Borrallo, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Norland-trained nanny?

Watch the full interview with Norland nanny expert, Louise Heren, royal biographer, Duncan Larcombe, and royal correspondent, Victoria Murphy, on episode seven of Yahoo UK’s show ‘The Royal Box‘, which is available to stream here from Friday 7 September.

How does one bag themselves the job of caring for the future heir to the British throne? That’s a question many nannies in the profession would likely like to ask Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.

In her brown shirt dress, white gloves and flat cap, the Cambridge’s nanny should stand out. But somehow, at every high-profile royal engagement she attends, Borrallo manages to blend in.

“If you saw Nanny Maria out on the street, and you recognised her and bowled up to her, she wouldn’t confirm or deny it,” Louise Heren, who has written a book on Norland nannies, tells Yahoo UK during episode seven of ‘The Royal Box’.

Borrallo’s discreteness is just one of the many skills the 40-something picked up from her prestigious Norland training.

Maria is, arguably, the college’s most successful alumni; after all, she’s charged with looking after the third, fourth and fifth in line to the throne. She is also the first Norlander to ever look after a direct descendant to the throne.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Cambridge’s nanny…

Who is Maria Borrallo?

Borrallo, who started working for the Cambridges in 2014 when George was eight months old, made her first public appearance when the family embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand.

She is fluent in six languages and reportedly speaks to George, Charlotte and possibly even Louis in French and Spanish. Her other tasks involve helping Kate and William deal with tantrums and discipline and looking after the royal brood at events.

In addition to classes in cooking, sewing and general childcare, Borrallo has taken modules in online safety, security training, self-defense and even skid-pan training.

After all, when you’re looking after the children of the rich, famous and royals, you need to know how to safely lose paparazzi.

While Diana was said to be jealous of her sons’ affection for their nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Norlanders are trained to be sensitive to a mother’s feelings – perhaps that’s what appealed to Kate and William. By all accounts, Maria’s not charged with raising, or mothering, George, Charlotte and Louis but instead educating and guiding them through royal life.

“It’s a hugely personal appointment, and for William and Kate to let someone into their family in such an intimate way…” says royal expert Victoria Murphy during ‘The Royal Box’.

“She knows everything about them and she’s shaping their children’s future. It’s a big, big decision.”

What does it take to become a Norland nanny?

While bagging a job looking after A-list offspring is tempting, it comes at a price. Training at the prestigious Norland college in Bath will set you back £12,000 a year. However, the resulting salary isn’t to be sniffed at.

As a newly qualified ‘Norlander’, you can expect to earn £26,000 a year from the get go. It’s unknown how much Kate and William pay their nanny – but likely a substantial amount. And she gets to call Kensington Palace home.

Despite boasting their very own Mary Poppins, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are said to be very hands on with their children: Kate and Williams are often spotted taking and collecting George from his Battersea school and Charlotte from her Kensington nursery.

However, for royal biographer, Duncan Larcombe, hiring a Norland nanny just proves how different the Duke and Duchess are.

“The fact that Kate chose a Norland nanny fits her, in terms of the fact she’s incredibly upwardly mobile,” he says during ‘The Royal Box’. “Having a Norland nanny just outlines how different they are from the rest of civilisation.”

True or not, Maria Borrallo’s appointment appears to have bucked the royal family’s trend of hiring and firing nannies.

The Queen reportedly sacked Prince Charles’s nanny Helen Lightbody in 1956 after a disagreement over Charles’ diet, while other nannies – Marion Crawford, Barbara Barnes, Louise Lehzen – faced similar fates.

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