Kate Middleton, one of the most relatable moms out there despite her royal rank, has been a longtime advocate for destigmatizing mental illness. Even more, she is a champion for finding ways to support kids’ mental health. Her latest campaign, “Shaping Us,” spotlights the impact early childhood interventions can have on a person’s physical and mental health.
“It is essential, to not only understand the unique importance of our earliest years, but to know what we can all do to help raise future generations of happy, healthy adults,” the Princess of Wales said before the campaign launched.
In a recent interview with Roman Kemp, Middleton told the radio host that the key to nurturing a child’s mental health is surrounding them with strong, loving relationships.
“The environment in which you bring up a child is as important as the experiences you engage them with,” she said. “It’s not about the number of toys they’ve got or the number of sort of trips that you go on with them. It’s just making sure they have got the right emotional support around them and that comes from the adults in their lives.”
Shaping Us is focusing from pregnancy to age five, when a child’s brain is growing and malleable. It’s a “critical time,” Middleton said, for preparing for adult life.
“It’s like building a house and without strong foundations,” she said. “Without that solid start in life, then those building blocks are much harder to build later on in life.”
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That said, she emphasized the importance of not taking a fatalistic view.
“For those who haven’t had happy childhoods, they can still go on to live happy, healthy lives with the right support and interventions,” she said.
Positive relationship-building plays out in the royal household even when things could get tense. The prince and princess of Wales have one strict household rule: No yelling. If any of the three use their outdoor voice, they don’t get put in time out. Instead, a source said, William or Kate will calmly take them to the side and have a calm conversation.
During her chat with Kemp, Middleton said the focus of the campaign and its message is not to put extra pressure on families (“You should be doing X and Y and Z!”), but to make sure they have the support and help they need to be able to reprioritize family life and “all that it takes [to raise] children today.”
“Because it’s tough,” the mom of three admitted. “…[but] love goes a long way.”
These relatable moments show that Kate Middleton may be a royal mom — but she’s a regular mom too.
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