The Princess of Wales looked effortlessly elegant in a pretty pink suit for a visit to the Foundling Museum today as part of her early years work.
Kate Middleton, 41, is patron of the central London museum which tells the history of the Foundling Hospital that in the mid 18th century began caring for children abandoned by their mothers who could not look after them.
The royal wore an Alexander McQueen three piece for the outing, in which she met people who have lived in the care system, with foster carers or adoptive parents.
When the princess arrived, a lone protester held up a placard as her car passed but the person was kept at a distance by a police officer as Kate stepped from the car.
The mother-of-three appeared relaxed as she made her way into the museum, where she was joined by rapper Professor Green, who is one of her Shaping Us champions.
The Princess of Wales, 41, was effortlessly elegant today in a pretty pink suit as she visited the Foundling Museum as part of her early years work
An excited Kate could be seen clapping her hands together as she sat down for a roundtable discussion today
During her visit, The Princess and singer Professor Green met trainees who have taken part in the scheme’s creative writing programme
Kate swept her hair into her favourite bouncy blowdry style for the engagement, and opted for a neutral makeup look.
She added a touch of blusher to her cheeks and a sweep of eyeliner across her lids for the occasion.
The Princess has worn the suit on a number of occasions in the past, including to visit the Royal Institution last year.
Kate has a close affiliation with Alexander McQueen, having worn the British fashion house’s designs on many occasions, most notably for her wedding in 2011.
But she added a new £90 belt by luxury London designer Camilla Elphick for the outing today.
During her visit, the princess met trainees who have taken part in the scheme’s creative writing programme.
The Princess was joined by Professor Green, who was brought up in kinship care.
Themes of the museum’s current exhibition Finding Family inspired the trainees to create poetry, and the royal joined a conversation between them and the singer to hear more about how creative writing has helped them to express their emotions and own experiences.
The royal said she felt ‘honoured’ to have met the group and hear their aspirations.
The Princess waved to waiting crowds of royal fans as she left the museum this lunchtime before heading off to another engagement
Kate also met artist Grayson Perry, who is a Foundling Fellow ambassador (pictured centre), at the museum today
The Princess is patron of the central London museum which tells the history of the Foundling Hospital which in the mid 18th century began caring for children abandoned by their mothers who could not look after them
The royal shook hands with attendees at the event and was beaming as she chatted away
Kate met with a small group of adoptive and foster parents to hear about the efforts they have undertaken to support young people who have experience of the care system
The Princess discussed the importance of ensuring that every child has supportive and loving networks around them
The Princess was elegant in a pink suit with white accessories, and appeared overjoyed to be meeting those at the museum today
Kate then met with a small group of adoptive and foster parents to hear about the efforts they have undertaken to support young people who have experience of the care system.
They discussed the importance of ensuring that every child has supportive and loving networks around them as well as the opportunity to build positive, lasting connections with others.
After the visit, Kate shared a tweet with a number of images from the engagement, posting: ‘Every day @FoundlingMuseum’s ground-breaking work supports care-experienced young people to fundamentally change the future direction of their lives.
‘All the support and care we can offer those who have faced real difficulties early in life has such a positive impact on #ShapingUs.’
The Foundling Museum tells the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity which was founded in 1739 as a home for children whose mothers couldn’t keep or care for them.
The Museum delivers training, mentorship programmes and creative projects, led and developed by contemporary artists, writers and musicians, and continues to use creative action to transform and improve the lives of care-experienced young people.
Kate was joined by Professor Green, who is one of Kate’s Shaping Us champions, during the outing today
The Princess learnt more about how creative writing had helped people to express their emotions and own lived experiences
Since 2017, the Foundling Museum has delivered an award-winning Tracing Our Tales programme to care-experienced young adults.
The programme enables its trainees to gain the skills and confidence needed to deliver learning programmes at the Museum, to return to education and to secure apprenticeships and jobs, alongside skills in art and creative expression.
After the event, she went on to meet with kinship carers at a support group session in London to hear about their experiences of raising the child of a relative or friend and the vital role they play in raising the next generation.
She met a group of kinship carers who have been supported by Kinship, a leading charity, and who are at different stages of their kinship care journey, with some very early on in the process and others who have been caring for a much longer period of time.
The Princess also discussed with them the important role that they play in a child’s development, the challenges they face and the support available to them provided by charities such as Kinship.
Showing off her motherly skills, Kate sat down on the floor alongside the carers and chatted to youngsters involved with the organisation.
Kate has long worked in the Early Years space, and earlier this year amped up her work by launching her Shaping Us campaign.
The Shaping Us campaign aims to transform the issue of early childhood from one of scientific interest to one of the most strategically important topics of our time.
A police officer quickly rushed over to the protestor, who was standing outside the Foundling Museum ahead of Kate’s visit
As she arrived at the museum, where she will meet with care leavers who are being supported by the organisation, a protestor stepped out into the road holding a sign which read: ‘Monarchy is child abuse’
Kate waved to royal fans who had excitedly gathered outside the museum earlier this morning to catch a glimpse of the Princess
The royal mother-of-three, who has long made early years a corner stone of her royal work, appeared in high spirits during the outing
Kate has dedicated her time to raising awareness of the critical importance of early childhood and in January 2023, with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, launched Shaping Us, a long-term campaign
During the meeting, she is set to meet those who have lived in the care system, as well as with foster carers and adoptive parents to hear about their experiences
Kate swept her hair into her favourite bouncy blowdry style for the engagement, and opted for a neutral makeup look
The Princess has worn the suit on a number of occasions in the past, including to visit the Royal Institution last year
The royal mother-of-three appeared relaxed as she chatted to members of staff outside the museum, where she will be joined by Professor Green, who is one of Kate’s Shaping Us champions
The Princess has worn the suit on a number of occasions in the past, including to visit the Royal Institution last year. However she added a new £90 belt by luxury London based designer Camilla Elphick for the outing today
The Princess will be joined on her visits by Shaping Us champion, Professor Green, who himself was brought up in kinship care
Kate has dedicated her time to raising awareness of the critical importance of early childhood and in January 2023, with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, launched Shaping Us, a long-term campaign.
The campaign also highlights that, by focusing our collective time, energy, and resources to build a supportive, nurturing world around all children and those caring for them, we can make a huge difference to the physical and mental health and happiness of generations to come.
Reports produced by the Early Childhood centre have revealed that the first five years shape future wellbeing more than any other stage of development, with our brains growing faster than at this time then any other.
It also hopes to ‘break the cycle’ of parents who experienced difficult childhoods themselves.
Palace aides say the idea for the project began even before Kate became a mother.
