Louis’ helping hand for Mum! Kate Middleton reveals her youngest has taken part in her early years study and uses a ‘feelings wheel’ with his classmates to express their emotions

The Princess of Wales has revealed how her youngest son Prince Louis and his classmates use a ‘feelings wheel’ to express their emotions.

Hosting a symposium where the findings of new research from her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood were unveiled, Kate, 41, told TV’s Fearne Cotton, who presented at the event, about Lambrook School’s technique.

The royal mother-of-three, dressed in an elegant Emilia Wickstead purple suit, apparently revealed her five-year-old son has taken part in her study for early years and said: ‘Louis’ class, they came back with a feelings wheel, it’s really good.

‘… These are five or six-year-olds, and going with names or pictures of a colour that represents how they feel that day, so there is a real keenness in school particularly to get involved in conversations.’

A feelings wheel is often a circle that displays colour-coded ‘core’ emotions – ones that are more easily expressed – at the centre, with more complex or ‘secondary’ emotions around these. Children are encouraged to try and pinpoint their feelings. 

Kate, who launched her early years Shaping Us campaign in January, later delivered a keynote speech at the occasion at the Design Museum in London, attended by child and adult specialists and global thinkers.

In her address, she said: ‘We must acknowledge and address the root cause of some of today’s toughest social challenges and work together to find better answers.’ 

Ahead of the speech, she told TV’s Fearne, a Shaping Us champion, that she felt ‘nervous’ but ‘excited’.

Said to be Kate’s ‘life’s work’, the Shaping Us project aims to highlight the significance of the formative years of a child’s life. She hopes it will influence attitudes towards children in the early years period of their lives.

Looking effortlessly elegant, Kate paired her power suit – which she previously wore to Northern Ireland in September 2021 – with dazzling sapphire and diamond earrings as well as purple heels. 

She styled her hair in bouncy waves and opted for a smattering of glamorous makeup to complete her sophisticated look following a late night at King Charles’ 75th birthday party at Clarence House.

During the event, ex Prime Minister Tony Blair joined former leader of the Conservative Party William Hague, who is Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, on stage.

Blair, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was invited to join the gathering to discuss how politicians can create change, ITV News reported. 

He set up Labour’s Sure Start scheme to offer parents better childcare options – but a royal source is said to have acknowledged the ‘policy lever’ is not available to Kate,

During her keynote speech, Kate said: ‘People often ask me why I focus my time on early childhood. 

‘The answer is because I care deeply about making a positive difference, in helping the most vulnerable and supporting those who are most in need.

‘This is not just about the youngest children in our society, who are, by their very nature, vulnerable. It is also about the many young people and adults who are suffering.

‘We must do more than simply meet the short term needs of these individuals. We must also look at creating long term, preventative change. And that takes us right back to the beginning.’

She added: ‘It isn’t enough therefore to simply wish for a better world. We must acknowledge and address the root cause of some of today’s toughest social challenges and work together to find better answers.’

The royal called for ‘action at every level’ to help to rebalance and restore society’s social and emotional skills – saying the skills were the ‘human wiring we need’.

Kate also stressed the importance of the early years development of children and said those she had met at a ‘crisis point’ in their lives had said for others to avoid their journey, a safe and loving childhood was needed. 

She said: ‘Nurturing skills that enable us to know ourselves, manage our emotions, focus our thoughts, communicate with others, foster positive relationships, and explore the world are just as valuable to our long-term success as reading, writing or arithmetic.

‘These skills are the bedrock, not only for helping children to thrive, but also for restoring, protecting and investing in humankind.

‘So, to rebalance and restore, calls for new thinking and action at every level. Because the future for our children is something we all build together; through the actions each of us takes every day.’

Kensington Palace said the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has conducted a global listening exercise, involving experts from 21 countries to unite the thinking and agree on the key foundational skills laid in early childhood, but continue to grow beyond it, that help establish happy, healthy adult lives. 

These social and emotional skills are described as fundamental to our future mental and physical wellbeing, shaping everything from our ability to form positive relationships to our capacity for learning, working and coping with adversity.

The Shaping Us National Symposium shared the findings from this exercise and focused on the action needed to make social and emotional skills a greater priority.

TV presenter Fearne Cotton, a Shaping Us champion, presented the event and the day also featured talks from a range of thought leaders to outline the scientific, economic and human cases for prioritising early childhood.

These thought leaders in attendance included Professor Jack Shonkoff, Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard whom Kate previously met during a visit to Boston last year.

Sara Rajeswaran, Chief of Staff at Aviva, a key member of the Business Taskforce for Early Childhood which The Princess launched in March, also featured in the event, alongside Professor Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever conducted.

The findings were presented and discussed at the event by a panel of experts covering their professional and personal experiences. 

Chaired by Professor Eamon McCrory, the panel included broadcaster Ashley John-Baptiste, clinical psychologist and author Sophie Mort, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, Neil Leitch and Beverley Barnett-Jones, Associate Director of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. 

During the afternoon, Symposium attendees will join a series of workshops to look at what action can be taken at every level to protect and strengthen these skills for current and future generations across disciplines and across sectors.

The event and the research that has been carried out by The Centre for Early Childhood is a key milestone for The Centre’s Shaping Us campaign.

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Earlier today, the Princess of Wales made a quite the entrance in a slick promo video for the Shaping Us National Symposium taking place today.

Kate can be seen gliding towards the stage entrance as her €630 Gianvito Rossi heels click dramatically against the floor.

The royal’s silhouette, clad in a chic burgundy power suit, is stylishly contrasted with the white walls surrounding her as she prepares for her keynote speech.

The short clip, shared on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s X account last night, is also interlaced with shots of the preparations taking place ahead of the event.

Kate opted for an effortlessly elegant, business-savvy ensemble worth £1,940.02. The Princess sported one of her favourite looks – a maroon £750 blazer from Roland Mouret teamed with matching £450 wide-leg trousers.

Adding a pop of brightness, the mother-of-three donned a £119 white shirt bodysuit from Holland Cooper clothing.  To accessorise, she opted for £72 pearl earrings from Shyla. 

Kate styled her voluminous brunette tresses in a blowout, keeping her make-up chic and simple with dark eyeliner and pink lipstick. 

‘Tomorrow we are hosting The #ShapingUs National Symposium,’ the video caption from last night read.

‘We will bring together cross-disciplinary leaders, child and adult specialists, and global thinkers for the first time to consider how we grow, think, and behave throughout life, in order to build resilience for the future.’

Yesterday evening, Kate was also snapped at a reception for the symposium, where she got the chance to prepare for her keynote speech. 

Snaps from the event show the Princess rehearsing at the podium as she gets ready for the big day. 

She also grinned while chatting with guests, including Justin Welby – the  Archbishop of Canterbury – yesterday.

The multi-media campaign is part of a major push by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, set up by the princess in June 2021, to raise awareness of how our early years mould our lives.

It is set to run for at least five years, and has in past been described by a Kensington Palace spokesman as the princess’s ‘life’s work’.

Earlier this year, the princess spoke passionately about the campaign in an open letter published in the Mail on Sunday, in which she set out her plan for Shaping Us.

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.