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- The Princess of Wales has shared some very candid comments on motherhood.
- She was speaking with fellow mothers during a visit to a London University.
- Kate is very passionate the importance of the first five years in a child’s life.
She may be royal, but even the Princess of Wales sometimes struggles with the challenges of raising three young children in this day and age.
Kate Middleton, 44, shared some candid comments about parenthood while visiting the University of East London’s Institute of the Science of Early Years and Youth on May 6.
While there, Princess Kate addressed motherhood challenges as she chatted to another mum, who was there with her daughters.
“It does take energy and effort to go and find that village [of support] for yourself,” she told the fellow mum.
She also admitted it can be difficult to parent in the modern age and “keep up in real time” with the challenges of social media.
During the visit, Kate also made a poignant tribute to her family by wearing a necklace by jeweller Daniella Draper, which featured each of her three children’s initials.
Kate, who shares Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11 and Prince Louis, eight, with Prince William, has long championed causes relating to early childhood.
In 2021, she founded The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which is her flagship philanthropic project. Its aim is to promote the importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
Alongside her visit to the university, Kate has also launched a new online research project to assist those working with young children and families.
Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development has been designed to strengthen understanding across the early years system.
In the foreword to the Guide, Kate wrote, “In a world which feels increasingly distracted, fragmented and digital… it is more important than ever to invest in what truly helps us to thrive: human connection.”
Kate has previously spoken about the challenges she faces as a mum. In 2017, she said in a speech that “there is pressure to be a perfect parent and pretend we’re all coping and loving every minute of it”.
“It’s right to talk about motherhood as a wonderful thing, but we also need to talk about its stresses and strains,” she added.
She has also said that while “becoming a mother has been such a rewarding and wonderful experience, at times it has been a huge challenge, even for me who has support at home that most mothers do not”.
“Nothing can really prepare you for the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love and worry – all mixed together,” she said.
Kate and William are passionate about ensuring that their own children enjoy their youth for as long as possible and have enforced a strict ‘no phones’ rule.
In her work as a childhood ambassador, Kate is also making her first solo international trip since her cancer diagnosis this month, travelling to Reggio Emilia, Italy, on May 13–14 to support the Centre’s efforts to expand outside the UK.
The city was chosen because of its widely respected approach to early childhood education, which places relationships, environment and community at the centre of a child’s development.
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