The Princess of Wales has given a landmark speech to launch her “life’s work”, a project called Shaping Up that highlights the importance of early years development of children.
Kate Middleton unveiled the campaign on Monday night (30 January) at Bafta’s London HQ alongside a 90-second Claymation film depicting how a child is shaped by interactions and their environment.
She said in her speech: “The campaign is fundamentally about shining a spotlight on the critical importance of early childhood and how it shapes the adults we become.
“During this time we lay the foundations and building blocks for life. And it is when we learn to understand ourselves, understand others and understand the world in which we live.
“This is why it is essential to not only understand the unique importance of our earliest years, but to know what we can all do to help raise future generations of happy, healthy adults.”
The long-term project, launched on Tuesday by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, is said to be Kate’s “life’s work”, which she hopes will influence attitudes towards children in their formative years.
The princess also outlined the scope of the campaign in her speech and said it would be a “long-term” project.
It will go on to “explore in more depth the importance of a child’s social and emotional world” and the significance of relationships and “surroundings and experiences”.
Kate wore a chilli-red powersuit to the event at the Bafta headquarters, designed by Alexander McQueen, accessorising her look with a suede Miu Miu clutch and earrings by Chalk. The Prince of Wales was also present to support her.
The launch was attended by celebrity supporters including former Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes, rapper Professor Green, presenter Fearne Cotton and Lionesses captain Leah Williamson.
Following the screening of the Claymation film, Williamson described the project as “amazing”. She added that she had not met Prince William since he hugged her after the national team won the women’s Euros last summer.
The athlete said: “I think it’s an amazing, amazing thing to start raising awareness of because we won’t see the fruits of this tomorrow or next year, but in years to come and how we look at our society.
“I hope that we are in a better position because of things like this.”
Additional reporting by PA
