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Kate Middleton is "at the red-hot center of one of the great social policy issues of our time" with her work with children
The Princess of Wales paired with Professor Robert Waldinger of Harvard University for an essay on the subject
Princess Kate is now "is being treated as an expert on early childhood"
Kate Middletonhas made a gradual return to duties after announcing her cancer is in remission almost a year ago.
At the center is her work for early childhood, and she signaled how she is at the heart of the debate when she paired with Professor Robert Waldinger of Harvard University for an essay on the subject — putting her "at the red-hot center of one of the great social policy issues of our time," tackling the issue of screentime, Sally Bedell Smith, who pens theRoyals Extra Substack, says.
In the essay, Princess Kate, 43, talked about the "technological interference" from smartphones and tablets in the home that impacts the fundamental gift people can give others, especially their children, which is attention.
"Our smartphones, tablets and computers have become sources of constant distraction, fragmenting our focus and preventing us from giving others the undivided attention that relationships require," she said in the essay.
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Bedell Smith believes the Princess of Wales "is doing something concrete — she is using the resources of her [Centre for Early Childhood] foundation to fund studies that are going to help identify the issues and where the insufficiencies are and find how parents can be helped, especially with these digital challenges that are overwhelming a lot of parents."
On Nov. 18, Princess Kate widened her initiative's reach at the Future Workforce Summit in London, alongside 80 business leaders and academics.
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Princess Kate said of her organization, which waslaunched in June 2021, "At The Centre for Early Childhood, we believe that we must do all we can to create the conditions for love to flourish. That is how we invest in our future."
At the meeting on Nov. 18 was Harvard University's Professor Robert Waldinger, whoco-wrote the essay with Kate. "Early childhood development is not glamorous. It's quiet and privately done, and the lack of resources doesn't get a lot of attention," Waldinger told PEOPLEearlier this month. "What she's doing by lending her voice to this is huge. Bringing in business leaders who can make a difference is an incredible way to use the platform she has."
After a series of speakers and roundtables, Kate stayed longer than expected to chat with contributors and delegates, greeting some with a hug and talking animatedly to others about the subjects they'd heard.
"She has really dug into this issue. This is her signature issue, and she's serious about it and doing her best to make a contribution.
"It showed she had applied herself and learned something so she could actually have intelligent conversations with them, which is what she should be doing. It could be of great value in leveraging her position and do some good."
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Then, Kate said, "Every one of you interacts with your own environment; a home, a family, a business, a workforce, a community. These are the ecosystems that you yourselves help to weave. Imagine a world where each of these environments were built on valuing time and tenderness just as much as productivity and success."
She added that business leaders will "face the daily challenge of finding the balance between profitability and having a positive impact," saying, "But the two are not, and should not be incompatible."
Eamon McCrory, who heads up the Anna Freud mental health charity, has been working with Kate on theinitiative for about a decade. "The Princess is continuing to build a societal narrative about the importance of childhood, of relationships and healthy development," he told PEOPLE in November.
"At Anna Freud, we've been re-imagining mental health care for more than 70 years, but the princess is looking forward to the future in a rapidly changing society. Her recent essay, as well as her recent talk, emphasize how we need to come together to really strengthen the bonds to help protect well-being and prevent mental health problems and addictions from emerging in the first place."
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Bedell Smith adds, "I thought her speech to the business leaders was very compelling and indicative of the depth that she has studied this issue, which means a great deal to her."
Adds one of King Charles' biographers, Catherine Mayer: "She is being treated as an expert on early childhood. People feel she is genuinely contributing to that area."
Read the original article onPeople
