The Duchess of Cambridge has embarked on her first-ever solo visit to Denmark today. It is Catherine’s first international solo visit after 2016 when she visited the Netherlands and in 2017 Luxemburg visit. She was received by the British Ambassador to Denmark Emma Hopkins upon arrival.
The Duchess of Cambridge is visiting Copenhagen for two days for a working meeting of her The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. She will be participating in a range of activities designed to highlight her commitment to early childhood development while also offering an opportunity to further foster friendly ties between the UK and Denmark.
Announcing the visit in January this year, Catherine shared on Twitter, “Looking forward to learning from experts, parents & practitioners about Denmark’s approach to early childhood later this month. Denmark is a beacon of best practice in its approach to the early years, with a culture that prioritizes the best start in life.”
The World Economic Forum has named Denmark one of the top five countries in the world to raise a family. The Duchess is being accompanied by Roxanne Philson, Director of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.
The visit will take The Duchess of Cambridge’s Early Childhood project to the international stage. During the visit, she will meet experts, Academicians, scientists, parents to learn about Denmark’s way of raising kids. She will meet The Danish Queen Margrethe II and Crown Princess Mary on February 23rd and then will visit a women’s shelter with Mary.
About the visit, Kensington Palace said, “The Duchess of Cambridge will spend time learning about how Demark has created an enabling culture for early childhood development, specifically how it has promoted infant mental wellbeing alongside physical health, and how it harnesses the power of nature, relationships and playful learning in the first five years of life. Her programme will focus on innovative initiatives and projects which support children in their growth, particularly their social and emotional development, as well as their parents and the wider communities surrounding them.“
Denmark is also celebrating two big royal events this year. Queen Margrethe II is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of her reign and Crown Princess Mary just celebrated her 50th birthday earlier this year.
This is The Duchess’ second visit to Copenhagen. She first visited in November 2011 with Prince William to see UNICEF’s global crisis center in the Danish capital. They were welcomed by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
Since joining the Royal family, The Duchess of Cambridge has been working publicly and behind the scene to highlight various social causes i.e. addiction, mental health, family breakdown, poor mental health, suicide, and homelessness, and how their root lies in the Early Childhood. She made The Early Years intervention the primary focus of her public role. She has been the champion of young kiddies and highlighted how to give the best possible start to every child.
The biggest milestone of this decade-long journey was the foundation of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in June 2021. The Centre aims to drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years, in order to transform society for generations to come. It will educate and create awareness around how what happens to children in the first 5 years of their lives can have a make or break effect on their futures.
The other prominent engagement of the visit to Denmark will be a visit to The Mary Foundation. Established in 2007, the foundation strives to “fight social isolation based on the belief that everyone has the right to belong.” Among its many initiatives is a project – Page 2 of 2 that aims to protect vulnerable women and children from domestic abuse. The Duchess will be joined by Crown Princess Mary for a visit to the women’s shelter run by The Mary Foundation.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s flight was 30 minutes delayed due to the bad weather. Her schedule is being kept under the wrap due to security reasons and will be announced before each engagement only.
The first stop of the day is the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project (CIMHP) at Københavns University. She was greeted by Mette Skovgaard Vaever, Director of the Center for Early Intervention and Family Studies. Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project (CIMHP) is a research project that seeks to promote the mental well-being of infants and their parents. The project is a collaboration between the Center for Early Intervention and Family studies at the University of Copenhagen and the City of Copenhagen’s health visitors and the Copenhagen council department for children and youth.
From CIMHP website, “CIMHP has three overall aims. The first is to enhance the health visitors’ ability to identify infants who are at risk for adverse socioemotional development, by implementing and evaluating a new method of screening, the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB). The second is to validate the screening instrument Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in a Danish setting, which is already used by the health visitors. The third is to compare the efficacy of the Circle of Security-Parenting intervention (COS-P ©) to the preventive interventions which are currently offered by The City of Copenhagen. The project is funded by Trygfonden, The City of Copenhagen, and The Department of Psychology at The University of Copenhagen.”
During the visit, she heard about an innovative screening tool, the Alarm Distress Baby Scale, used to help health visitors identify infants at risk of adverse social and emotional development. Alongside the screening tool, academics have launched the Understanding Your Baby research project which provides further training for health visitors so they can help new parents as they begin to notice and interpret their babies’ behavioural cues.
The second stop of the day was Børnemuseet in Frederiksberg. Børnemuseet is a Children’s Museum having a creative gathering point for families with children, who are looking for memorable offline experiences together.
The Children’s Museum regularly holds creative workshops and events. During school holidays and on anniversaries special programs are organized. At the Children’s Museum, there are several regular activities that the children can try their hand at when they visit like Decorating a cupcake, Painting workshop, Mixing a soap, Making organic lip balm, hair ornaments, and Foam Clay.
During the Museum visit, she met with a few of the 1,300 first-time parents benefiting from the project, begun in 2019 and ending in July, that involves more than 200 health workers. From Hello! report,
Kate showed off her maternal side as she spoke with families who have benefited from the programme in Copenhagen. After meeting with two eight-month-old baby boys and their parents, she joked: “It makes me very broody. “William always worries about me meeting under one-year-olds. I come home saying ‘Let’s have another one.'”
The last stop of the day was the LEGO Foundation’s PlayLab at the Carlsberg Campus of University College Copenhagen where The Duchess of Cambridge met with the academics and experts to learn more about how Denmark approaches the Early Years and how she can use these approaches in her Centre For Early Childhood.
Charitable wing of the famous Danish toy company Lego, Lego Foundation runs various programs, one of them is the Playful Learning program. If you remember the video Kensington Palace shared when the visit was announced in January, The Duchess was creating the Denmark flag with Legos in it. From its website,
Rooted in Danish educational tradition, the Playful Learning Programme aims to develop and encourage a more playful approach to children’s development and learning. Since launching the programme in 2018, it has been our vision to contribute to and strengthen children’s creative, experimental and playful approach to the world and their motivation to learn.
Our vision forms the foundation for a long-term and ambitious partnership between the Danish University Colleges and the LEGO Foundation. Our common ambition is to create a pedagogical development, based on the qualities of play and playful approaches.
Catherine met with the students training to be early years professionals and participated in activities.
The highlight of the day or maybe the whole visit was when the Duchess whizzed down a winding tube slide instead of taking the stairs, raising her hands in the air as she shot out the bottom.
Continuing from Hello!
Emerging from the slide, Kate said: “In the spirit of where I am, I had to do it.”
She was wearing her Zara Red Tweed Blazer that she first wore in June 2021 at the Football match between England and Germany.
Catherine paired the blazer with a Me+Em Frill Collar Cardigan Layering Top. Thanks to @innominate_93 for the top id.
And her Roland Mouret Axon Wide-leg Trousers.
She chose her trusty Gianvito Rossi Piper pumps.
She was carrying her Smythson Black Panama East-West Zip Tote upon arrival.
Later on, she swapped it with her Aspinal of London Midi Mayfair Bag in deep shine black croc.
Another new element of the look was pair of gold pearl earrings. @LadyParky79 suggested that Catherine might be wearing a Copenhagen-based jeweler Maria Black Cha Cha Earrings. I have gotten in touch with the company. I will update once received any news from them.
The Duchess of Cambridge was also wearing The Duchess of Cambridge wore Monica Vinader Vintage Chain Pearl Necklace. Thanks to Christine Ross for the id.
Upon arrival at the British Embassy, Catherine was also wearing her Halcyon Days Gold Plated Maya Torque Bracelet in Aquamarine. Thanks to @anaflaviamartns for pointing it out.
