On Wednesday afternoon, The Royal Foundation for Early Childhood released a new social media video campaign for ‘Shaping Us’ featuring the Princess of Wales and a host of ‘celebrity champions’.
The short video opens with Kate saying “we often don’t realise it but many aspects of our lives today have their roots in early childhood.”
Next, it cuts to the celebrity champions talking about the aspects of our lives that early childhood affects, “how we form relationships” says Giovanna Fletcher. “How we manage our emotions” adds Leah Williamson.
Other stars in the video include Fearne Cotton, Zara McDermott, Ugo Monye, Professor Green and Jax Jones.
They explain that “how we protect our mental health,” “how we cope with stress,” “how we see ourselves”, “how we learn” and “how we love” as adults are all connected to the first five years of our lives. As Kate says, “our early childhood shapes the adults we become”.
The video ends with the campaign’s green and yellow branding and the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood’s logo.
The video is just one of several initiatives in the Shaping Us campaign launched by Kate this week. The campaign is designed to get the nation talking about Early Childhood and the importance of the first five years of life.
The Princess kicked off the ‘Shaping Us’ campaign with a video on Tuesday morning, explaining its importance. It’s a great primer on the initiative—
She also visited Kirkgate market in Leeds to discuss early childhood with vendors and attended a lecture in attachment theory at the University of Leeds on the same day.
On Monday, the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood shared 90-second claymation film showing a little girl developing for pregnancy to age five. The video, titled ‘Layla’s Story’ Watch shows how and why our early childhood shapes the adults we become.
The Princess attended a pre-launch event for Shaping Us on Monday evening, where she previewed the film and attended a drinks reception for all involved with the campaign.
Kate launched the Centre for Early Childhood with The Royal Foundation in June 2021.
Kate’s outfit:
The Princess chose a blue dress for the campaign video.
It’s by Jenny Packham. We’ve spotted her in it before, during a visit to Northern Ireland in 2019 (below).
Back in 2019, The Daily Mail’s Editor and Fashion Finder, Caroline Parr confirmed the designer, presumably after speaking to one of Kate’s aides at Kensington Palace. To the best of my knowledge, the design has never been available off the rack, I assume it was a bespoke commission.
The style hits below the knee and features a contrasting belt at the waist.
Kate also owns the garment in black, she wore it recently during the mourning period following the loss of Queen Elizabeth.
Jenny Packham is one of the designers Kate has on speed dial for both high profile events and public engagements. The British designer is better-known for creating exquisite gowns and eveningwear but she’s crafted a number of items of daywear for the Princess too.
The Princess finished her look with a pair of gold earrings from Shyla London (shown below on another occasion). They’re known as the ‘Biaritz Squiggle Earrings’.
The elegant earrings are handmade and formed from multiple layers of gold (22ct gold on silver). They’re still available to buy and can be purchased from the brand for £74 at shylajewellery.com.
The Princess first debuted the earrings during a visit to Boston in 2022. We’ve spotted her him them 2-3 times since.
Shyla is a London-based brand that is ethically motivated, conscious and uses sustainable practises where possible. The company works with some of the poorest communities in India. The women learn a craft that will support and sustain their families. Shyla use recycled gold and silver, plus all of their packaging is recycled too.