The Princess of Wales has enlisted her three children to volunteer at a baby bank in preparation for Christmas.
In a video shared by Kensington Palace, the Princess of Wales was joined by Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, to sort through toys at a baby bank in Maidenhead near their home in Berkshire. The video was shared in honour of Kate Middleton’s baby banks awareness campaign for the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood.
The nearly two-minute promotional video, shot by London-based filmmaker Will Warr, showed the mother of three arriving at the baby bank with George, Charlotte, and Louis in tow. The royal family were greeted by workers at the baby bank in Maidenhead, a donation centre that provides free childcare essentials such as second-hand clothing, toys, and diapers. As cheeky Louis carried an overflowing box of donation items, a staff member told the young royals: “Come and see what we do.”
Charlotte, George, and Louis each filed into the baby bank carrying boxes of childcare essentials, and Kate informed her children that they were “volunteers” for the day. “Here, there’s lots of people who give up their time and there are lots of volunteers who come and help out,” she told them. “As you’re the volunteers for this evening.”
The sweet clip went on to show George, Charlotte, and Louis sifting through piles of donated toys and packing them into bags to give to fellow children for Christmas. At one point, the youngest of Prince William and Kate’s brood picked up a toy gorilla and shouted: “This is a big guy!”
A staff worker instructed Kate’s children to choose donation items for similar-aged children that they would wish to play with themselves. “What we would like you to do is try and choose some presents for some children who are similar age to you guys, so think about what you would like to play with,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kate was seen telling her eldest son how each of the Christmas gift bags they packed will be donated to children in need. “All these bags are donations then we then have to go sort them and put them in all the boxes,” she told George.
As they energetically folded second-hand clothing, Kate handed Charlotte a small, white baby onesie. Her daughter immediately burst into laughter when she noticed the print on the onesie. “This is Welsh,” she said, as she held up the tiny item of clothing.
Princess of Wales launches Christmas Baby Banks initiative— (Prince and Princess of Wales/YouTube)
One of the staff members noted that “George wants to come back” to the baby bank, while Kate put her arm around her eldest son and said: “You can see how rewarding the work is, knowing that you are helping out others.”
“Yeah,” George replied.
Over the footage, the on-screen text informed viewers that a “quarter of families with a child under five years of age” are living in poverty in the United Kingdom. “Thank you to everyone who so generously supports Baby Banks across the country,” it read, urging people to support their local baby bank and visit the Centre for Early Childhood website.
In a post shared to X - formerly known as Twitter - the official account for the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a 15-second clip of the video campaign, along with the message: “Baby Banks are warm, caring places for families to access equipment, products, clothes and toys to help relieve some of the stresses creating significant pressures on people caring for babies and young children.”
“Our experiences, relationships and surroundings during early childhood lay foundations that shape the rest of our lives, and future society,” they added. “Supporting parents and carers, who are providing for their families in challenging circumstances can have a life-changing impact.”
The video campaign comes after the Prince and Princess of Wales shared their annual family Christmas card to social media. On Saturday 9 December, William and Kate posted a photo of the black and white portrait, which showed the family of five dressed casually in white-collared shirts and dark coloured pants.
In the portrait, Charlotte and her younger brother Louis were seen twinning in canvas sneakers. William and Kate each placed an arm around their sons, while Charlotte sat centre stage in a chair. “Our family Christmas card for 2023,” the Instagram caption read.
