The Princess of Wales has revealed her children “tell me stories all the time” as she heard imaginative tales from youngsters at the reopening of the Young V&A Museum.
Kate was shown around the museum’s three different galleries and spoke to schoolchildren at the venue in Bethnal Green, east London, on Wednesday.
She spent time exploring the different areas of the museum, including the Imagine Gallery, where children told her stories through using different objects.
Several children took turns to tell their tales, with Kate responding to one story by saying, “The end. Very good – I’d like to see that”, before sharing that her own children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – “tell me stories all the time”.
She was then bombarded with questions and hugged by two girls before urging the children to “Keep up the storytelling”.
Seven-year-old Lina said afterwards: “It was very nice meeting her. She was acting like a normal princess would!”
Kate also joined a building workshop in the Play Gallery with children from Globe Primary School, where she gave her verdict on models they built out of foam.
One child explained their model was a robot that filters trash from the ocean, leading Kate to ask: “Does this sit on top of the water, or under the water?”
She was then shown around the rest of the gallery, which is aimed at 0-three-year-olds as a sensory space filled with colour.
Kate was then taken through the Design Gallery and marvelled at customised bionic arms and a Petit Pli sustainable clothing outfit, remarking: “I really love it.”
Formerly the Museum of Childhood, the Young V&A will open to the public free of charge on July 1 after three years of refurbishment.
Opened in 1872 as east London’s first museum, the building’s updated features were designed with input from children.
Kate was greeted by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan among others, while she also praised Young V&A director Dr Helen Charman for the museum’s transformation.
Before leaving, Kate was given three gift bags containing a notebook, wooden car, badge and an eraser by Percy, seven, and Zeo, eight, and gave both children a high-five.
Dr Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, said: “What this place is about is how you create cultural confidence and creative enjoyment in the early years through objects, design, play and imagination.
“Because she (Kate) is across the research on this, she understood what we were trying to do with the museum.”
On the museum’s refurbishment, he added: “It was a wonderful space, but it was a slightly creepy, dark toy mausoleum.
“To have the kids in it today, using it in the way that we thought they might, is really validating for the project.”
The V&A family includes museums in South Kensington, Dundee in Scotland and the Wedgewood Collection near Stoke-on-Trent, while a new location in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, V&A East, is due to open in 2025.
