The Princess of Wales once again brushed aside royal drama by playfully hiding behind a mask to the delight of excited children during a trip to a nursery.
Kate visited the Foxcubs Nursery in Luton, which is an "outstanding" OFSTED-rated centre run by the Early Years Alliance that has 70 places for local children aged between two and five, to learn about its work supporting the early years development of children as part of her efforts to elevate the importance of early childhood to lifelong outcomes.
As she arrived at the nursery, the Princess remarked how it was a "beautiful day" and how she loves the cold mornings of winter.
Once inside, Kate played with the children in the sand pit, learnt Chinese letters with them and also enthralled the youngsters by holding a mask one of them had made up to her face.
Kate, who rewore a £1,600 orange wool Gabriela Hearst dress with a thick brown leather belt and boots, with a £349 Massimo Dutti Limited Edition cashmere camel coat, also met staff to discuss the role nurseries play in shaping a child’s development and joined a talk with parents about the support the nursery provides on a day-to-day basis and for the long-term social and emotional development of their child.
The princess was keen to sit down at a table with a group of youngsters, examining the masks they were making, admiring a little girl’s Snow White outfit and saying: "Let me help you. We don’t want to mess up your lovely dress."
One of the stars of the show was little Ezaan, three, who dressed up as a construction worker and brandished his tool kit for the cameras, standing in front of them squarely and resolutely as they tried to take pictures of the princess.
Kate laughed as she watched him take centre stage and then take himself off behind the cameras to get a look at himself on film.
Her third stop was at a table where some of the older children were practising Chinese letters to mark the annual Chinese New Year. The royal crouched down without ceremony and asked each of the youngsters’ names and ages.
The Princess had also asked to meet staff - known as educators as a means of highlighting the significance of their work with the children in terms of development - to talk to them about the importance of good early years provision.
Rachel Swain Marsh said: "Early Years is such a passion for me. I love children and they deserve the very best."
Kate replied: "I think we really saw that highlighted over the pandemic. When they were closed down people realised how vital they were not just for the communities they serve but for the individual families and children in their care. It’s been good in a way that it has highlighted and how vital this role everyone is playing is in early childhood.
"But it feels like it is also an increased pressure in some ways.
"For you a sense of responsibility really looking after these kids in their most formative years but also your having to support families during quite challenging circumstances."
She added: "It is so important having that holistic support for a child where there isn’t this boundary between ‘educational life, which starts here’ and ‘home life, which starts here’. That there is more of a holistic network surrounding our children."
Afterwards the princess spent time with a small group of parents to talk about the provision offered by Foxcubs Nursery.
Susmita told the princess about an app the nursery has sent up to share pictures of their youngsters and their progress. "It's lovely to see their day," she said. "My son loves coming here. We are so glad they are in safe hands."#
"It’s so true. These nurseries are providing far more than daycare, they are educating your children in so many different ways," the princess agreed.
As she left the nursery, she stopped to pose for selfies with parents after being presented with a bouquet of handmade flowers.
Her visit today comes as sources say Kate has "already moved on" from the Prince Harry memoir saga, as she prepares to launch a major campaign to change the future for generations of children.
Kate is said to have even “dismissed” the controversy surrounding the Duke of Sussex’s explosive book as she was busy preparing to launch the next stage of her flagship early years work for children, according to royal sources.
At the end of the month, the mum-of-three will announce a new revolutionary “three to five year programme” aimed at impacting the vital first five years of every child’s life.
Sources close to the Princess, who Harry painted as uptight and unwelcoming to his wife Meghan when she joined the royal fold, have revealed how she was left “baffled” by Harry’s personal attacks, but was left unruffled because she was “totally immersed” in her work “to take much notice”.
For the last nine years, Kate has spent time looking into how experiences in early childhood are often the root cause of today’s hardest social challenges.
Issues such as addiction, family breakdown, poor mental health, suicide and homelessness surrounding a child’s life can often have a huge detrimental affect on their mental and physical wellbeing at such a key stage in their upbringing as the brain rapidly develops.
A royal source said last week: “Of course there have been other distractions but the Princess has had far more important things on her mind. It’s an important and exciting time.
“The campaign she has been working on really is the result of several months behind the scenes (and) will launch a new three to five year programme.
"(Kate) spends a lot of time reading, meeting and speaking with professionals across the entire field - but this isn't just one project, it’s an opportunity to make generational change for all our children.
"There are a number of creative parts in the process for parents and non-parents to be involved across the country with lots more to come and the hope is as many people as possible, from those in the medical and academic world as well as parents and non-parents, join the journey.”
Now Kate will announce her work is to take a dramatic shift to engage the medical and academic world to revolutionise thinking for parents, carers and teachers across the world to increase the focus on the first years of a child's life in impacting later life.
