Kate Middleton is set to make her first international royal engagement following her cancer treatment.
The 44-year-old will head to Italy next week for a two-day working visit on behalf of the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, Kensington Palace said. Kate launched the foundation in 2021 to raise awareness of how early childhood experiences can shape later life.
On May 13 and 14, the princess will take her mission onto the international stage by visiting the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia for a research trip. She’ll meet with educators, families, and community leaders while exploring the city’s world-renowned trademarked educational philosophy, the Reggio Emilia Approach. This comes after Kate and Prince William packed on the PDA in a super rare sighting.
The Italian city has become a global leader in innovative approaches to supporting young children and their careers, viewing children as active, central figures in their own learning.
The Reggio Emilia Approach believes educational centers should be tailored to children’s various ways of thinking and communicating.
“The Princess is very much looking forward to visiting Italy next week and seeing first-hand how the Reggio Emilia approach creates environments where nature and loving human relationships come together to support children’s development,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson said in the statement.
The Princess of Wales’ husband, Prince William, will not be joining her on the trip. However, it marks Kate’s first international engagement since 2022, when she traveled with William to Boston, Massachusetts, for the Earshot Prize Awards.
In March 2024, Kate released a video message revealing that she was in the early stages of chemotherapy after undergoing abdominal surgery.
In September 2024, she announced that she had completed chemotherapy before announcing that she was in remission in early 2025.
While speaking to patients at Colchester Hospital in southeast England in July, Kate described the phase after cancer treatment as “really difficult,” adding that “you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to.”
On Wednesday, May 6, Kate stepped out in London as she prepared for her first overseas work visit.
She visited the University of East London to highlight the latest stage of her mission to support young people and their families.
Kate spent time meeting families and students pursuing careers in the field as she launched a new resource for those working with babies, young children, and their families: Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development.
Published by The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, the guide highlights the “vital role of loving, responsive relationships in shaping children’s lifelong health and well-being,” Kensington Palace said.
The resource will be available via a new hub on the Center for Early Childhood’s website, making it easier for professionals to access key research and tools.
In the guide’s introduction, the princess wrote, “Now is the moment to place care and connection at the heart of all we do, and to shape a future in which love can truly flourish.”
She added, “In a world which feels increasingly distracted, fragmented and digital, where life’s pace, noise and interruptions can be overwhelming, I believe it is more important than ever to invest in what truly helps us to thrive: human connection.
“While our society often focuses on academic or physical milestones, research consistently shows that it is our earliest relationships, experiences and environments which lay the foundations for our future health and happiness.
“The quality of our connections — with ourselves, with others and with the world around us — shapes how safe we feel, how we relate and how we process experiences throughout our lives.”
In 2023, Kate launched the Center for Early Childhood’s Shaping Us Framework, which she says “identifies the key social and emotional skills that enable us to thrive.”
In recent years, she has also expanded her initiative into the business community. In November, Kate hosted the Future Workforce Summit in London’s business district, where she delivered a speech and participated in panel discussions on the topic.
Harvard University’s Professor Robert Waldinger, who penned an essay with Kate last October, said she is having a “huge impact” on the initiative.
“Early childhood development is not glamorous. It’s quiet and privately done, and the lack of resources doesn’t get a lot of attention. And the caregivers are so underappreciated,” he told PEOPLE at the time.
“So, what she’s doing by lending her voice to this is huge. And then bringing in business leaders who have a chance to make a difference is an incredible way to use the platform that she has.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
