Kate Middleton Pens Powerful Message About Cornerstone of Her Royal Work: 'We Must Invest in Humankind'

Mar. 15, 2025

Catherine, Princess of Wales arrives for a visit to Corgi, a family run textiles manufacturer focused on the production of socks and knitwear on Jan. 30, 2025 in Ammanford, Wales.Photo:WPA Pool / Getty Images

WPA Pool / Getty Images

Kate Middletonis taking her mission for the youngest in society to the next stage.

The Princess of Wales, 43, is unveiling a new blueprint for raising awareness of the importance of emotional and social skills to future mental and physical well-being, and how getting it right for those in the 0-5 year age group is crucial.

In the coming days, Kate will be out and about promoting a new part  of her campaign, underlining how she is gradually getting back into her stride with her public work after a year spent largely out of the public eye.

Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty

Shaping Uskicked off two years agoin January 2023, and after its launch Kate took thecampaign on the roadto Leeds and elsewhere. A year ago, Kate’sabdominal operationand then her cancer diagnosis followed but, amid that treatment and recovery, the early years is one of the main subject areas she haskept up with her staffwhere she could over the last 12 months.

Princess Kate writes in a new foreword to the report, “Modern society is complex. At times, it can feel like the world is filled with mistrust and misunderstanding, leaving many people feeling isolated and vulnerable during difficult times. The impact of this — poor mental health, addiction and abuse — can be devastating, for individuals and for society."

“If we are to address this properly, if we are to find real, lasting solutions to these deep-rooted challenges and create a physically and mentally healthier society, we must reset, restore and rebalance. We must invest in humankind,” she continued.

She added, “At the heart of all of this is the need for us to develop and nurture a set of social and emotional skills which we must prioritize if we are to thrive.”

Kate says the new report, published on Feb. 2, “lays out why early childhood is such a golden opportunity to give the next generation the most positive start in life. But it also shows that these skills continue to grow throughout adulthood — it is never too late.”

Catherine, Princess of Wales paints the hand of Maggie aged 4 years old whose sibling is being treated at TA Hafan, a children’s hospice based in Sully, near Cardiff. which supports families in Wales to ensure that children with life-shortening conditions live fulfilling lives. The painted hand will be digitised and put on a wall of hand prints inside the hospice , on Jan. 30, 2025 in Sully, Wales.Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty

Kate’s work focuses on how the relationships and interactions between parents and carers and their babies and young children is the most crucial factor that can influence social and emotional development during early childhood.

That doesn’t mean others can’t play a part too. Her foundation’s paper “helps individuals and organizations understand the ways in which they can contribute to making this conceptual model a living, breathing reality for everybody,” she wrote. “It lays out why early childhood is such a golden opportunity to give the next generation the most positive start in life.”

To that end, for example, her team hasinvolved businesses in a key partof the campaign.

Christian Guy, executive director of the Centre for Early Childhood, said in a statement, “It is time that we recognized and acted upon the undeniable significance of social and emotional skills and give them the recognition they deserve. Getting this right in early childhood, when we lay the foundations upon which these skills continue to grow throughout our lives, could have a truly profound impact on the future of individuals and of our society.”

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The palace points out that Kate’s center and their work “does not intend to replace existing frameworks but offers — for the first time —a universal and flexible way to talk about social and emotional skills that cuts across all areas of life and engages a broad audience.”

Kate, while still gently easing herself back into public life following the Jan. 14 news that she isin remissionfrom cancer, is clearly increasing the frequency of her outings. Last week, she was out three times, in South Wales atTŷ Hafanchildren’s hospice where she became its patron, andat a textile factory, both on Jan. 30. Earlier in the week, on Jan. 27, she joined her husbandPrince Williamat theLondon commemoration of the Holocaust victims and survivors.

source: people.com