This weekend, Kensington Palace gave us an amazing gift. The Duchess of Cambridge had a wonderful online Q&A session where she answered Questions about her Early Years project and its future submitted to the Palace’s Instagram account by the public. The Q&A session was fun, full of elegance and some interesting emotions that we never saw before from The Duchess of Cambridge.
It was fantastic to see The Duchess of Cambridge talking so candidly about the project she is so passionate about and discussing the future of the project. The Duchess of Cambridge thanked everyone who submitted the question and was very excited about the emojis that came with the questions.
The Duchess of Cambridge answered the questions like “What is the early years? Help.” She was also asked the question she already answered during the First Early Year’s Forum yesterday ” What sparked my interest in the Early years?” To which she replied,”I actually get asked this question a lot. I think people assume because I am a parent, that’s why I’ve taken an interest in the Early Years. I think this really is bigger than that. This isn’t just about happy, healthy children; this is about the society I hope we could and can become.
Right from the early days, meeting lots of people who are suffering with addiction or poor mental health, and hearing time and time again that their troubles now in adulthood stem right back from early childhood experience – The Duchess of Cambridge.
Catherine told that the best part of the Early years project was going around the nation when she launched the survey and got to meet loads of amazing families, loads of amazing parents, hearing first hand what they were going through, what their experiences of parenthood was really like but also meeting amazing people who have done fantastic work up and down the country in supporting families and children in the Early Years too.
Touching a question about her childhood, She candidly said, “That’s a very good question. I loved spending time outside and that has stuck with me for my whole life”. In 2019, The Duchess of Cambridge designed a garden called ‘Back to Nature’ for the Royal Chelsea Flower show that was inspired from her own childhood. She also talked about taking the project global.
There’s amazing work going on internationally, because ultimately, this is a global issue. And It would be great to see best practice being shared so, yes, I hope so in the future.
Talking about the where there is any future plan for the Early Years Project, The Duchess of Cambridge said, ” yes a lot and I think there will be for quite some years to come too because this really isn’t something that we are going to be able to change quickly and overnight. It’s going to take generations and I’m keen to support this for the long term”.
The Duchess of Cambridge launched a landmark survey ‘5 Big Questions under 5’ in January this year as part of her long-term project – Early Years. On Friday, She released the results of the survey ‘5 Big insights’. The Survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI under the umbrella of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. With half a million responses the survey was one of the biggest UK study about the Early Years. Dr Xand van Tulleken, Associate Professor of Public Health at University College London, who was also on the Early Years forum and worked with the Duchess of Cambridge on the research, wrote a very interesting article for The Telegraph, giving insights to how and why he and his twin brother joined forces with The Royal in this project,
What drew us both to her cause is the very different approach it has taken from other similar projects we have been involved with. This is not a flash-in-the-pan campaign, with a well-known name as the figurehead, peripherally involved. Nor is it one person’s whimsical idea that it would be ‘nice to do something for children’.
As was absolutely clear at that very first meeting, the Duchess has shaped this project. She is absolutely across the research and the data on early years. It would be easy for her to sit back and hand it to the experts in the room that day, with all their PhDs. But, as we saw, she has worked hard to become an expert herself. That interest in early years will outlast politicians and even scientists.
People sometimes assume it was sparked by having children herself, but in fact it predates their arrival. And as they grow up, she made plain to us, her focus will not simply switch to issues concerning parenting and teenagers. She is profoundly passionate about the importance of early years.
What I have seen in my dealings with her is how effectively she manages to speak to the shared experience of parenting, whatever your background – and to the fact that no amount of money and staff can ever exempt you from the imperative to engage with you children and look after them in the early years. In this, she walks a line between not being falsely humble, but at the same time sincerely presenting herself as someone aware of the real challenges of parenting.
There are many very good organisations working in the early years space, but not many can match the Royal Foundation’s reach and scope. Especially since it has done that rare thing: it has asked questions rather than, as is so often the case in this area, telling parents what to do. Such an approach allows you to build a strong base for a long-lasting commitment.
The Palace shared small snippets of the insights in which Duchess of Cambridge is talking about the results of the survey. Yesterday, she also gave a very passionate keynote address at the first Early Years forum hosted by the Royal Foundation in which she discussed how the society collaboratively can bring big change that starts small. Learn More about the Early years project and Catherine’s journey through out the project here.
For the Early Years Q&A session, The Duchess of Cambridge was wearing her Gucci Silk Tie Neck Blouse that she first wore in March 2019 during her visit to the Henry Fawcett Children’s Centre. The lavender shade of the blouse was officially described as Pale Violet Orchid.
The $1300 blouse is described on Nordstrom as, “A blousy bow graces the demure neckline of a decidedly feminine silk blouse designed with a row of dainty covered buttons inching down the back”.
I really love how the Palace had handle the official role down of the survey and survey results. This whole week we were getting some information about the project and its result. I am looking forward to the action plan and projects that are in pipeline for 2021.
