Kate Middleton just reminded everyone why she’s known as the Children’s Princess.
On Feb. 26, the Princess of Wales traveled to south Wales with her husband, Prince William, to meet local people in Pontypridd and hear from those affected by severe flooding from storms in December 2024. As seen in fan footage of their arrival, the royal couple stepped out in sync at Pontypridd Market and met with the crowd who came to see them.
Princess Kate, 43, accepted flowers from a well-wisher with a bouquet in hand and instantly moved to say hello to a baby wearing a blue puffer coat. Kate smiled as she spent a moment with the child and rubbed her hand on the little one’s shoulder.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are parents to children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, and Princess Kate is especially known for her warm way with kids and interest in their early development. The Princess of Wales has dedicated much of her working royal platform to children’s causes and launched The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in June 2021 to raise awareness around the importance of a child’s first five years of life. In January 2023, she elevated that work to the next level by unveiling the Shaping Us campaign as a long-term initiative to “transform the issue from one of scientific interest to one of the most strategically important topics of our time,” a statement said.
Princess Kate’s love of children extends into her personal life, and she has previously joked about being “broody” around the idea of having another baby. The Princess of Wales made the revelation during a solo trip to Denmark in February 2022 when she met with parents and babies at the University of Copenhagen. She made the stop to learn from researchers behind the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project, which promotes the mental well-being of and relationships between infants and parents.
“It makes me very broody,” Kate said about spending time with babies in connection to her royal work. “William always worries about me meeting under 1-year-olds. I come home saying, ‘Let’s have another one.’ ”
Prince William, 42, quipped just a few months later that his wife indeed got “broody” around babies. During a trip to Scotland that May, the royal couple visited St. John’s Primary School, where students learned about empathy by observing an infant.
“Can you get my wife out of here before she gets broody?” Prince William joked about his wife’s love of little ones.
The Prince of Wales seemed right to worry, as Princess Kate had the baby named Saul in her lap by the time the visit wrapped.
William and Kate are both pros at interacting with kids during official outings. In January, Princess Kate shocked royal watchers by stopping her convoy after a day out to greet a little girl who had been calling out, “Hello, princess!” to catch her attention.
In a highly unusual move, Kate ran to shake the little girl’s hand and spent a few minutes chatting with her. “I heard you say, ‘Hello,’ from all the way back there, and I wanted to come and see you,” the BBC reported that Princess Kate said.
The same month, Prince William had the best response to a young boy who asked if he was “the King.”
“Hello, are you the King?” a boy named Mohammed asked William in a video shared by St. Nicholas Catholic Academy from the prince’s visit to the Toxeth area of Liverpool. “No, I’m not, no. I’m his son,” Prince William politely said in reference to his father, King Charles.
William then pivoted to asking Mohammed questions about himself and how his school day went. “What’s your name? Mohammed. How are you, Mohammed? Nice to see you. Did you have a good day at school?” he diplomatically asked.
St. Nicholas Catholic Academy also shared a sweet video of the Prince of Wales and the pupil smiling together in a selfie-style clip to say “cheese.”
Prince William and Princess Kate brought the same warmth to their outing in Wales on Wednesday, where The Welsh Cake Shop owner Theresa Conner described them as totally “down to earth.”
“It was wonderful, an absolute dream come true. They were personable and friendly and down to earth, they were really lovely,” said Conner, who helped the couple make traditional Welsh cakes.
Conner had heard that the Princess of Wales was a keen baker but had never made the confection herself.
“They said they’d eaten lots but they’d never made them. And they said they thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” Conner says.
Lynda Herbert-Johnson waited for about four hours to meet the couple and says they wereapologetic that they were late due to the weather.
“I can tell who’s been here the longest by the cold hands,” William told the crowd. “We got delayed on the train. Ironically by flooding,” he said, referencing the adverse weather that affected both their visit and the Pontypridd community in December.
“They kept apologizing for keeping people waiting,” Herbert-Johnson tells PEOPLE. “We said that we were really pleased that they’d come to Pontypridd. They both looked fabulous, and it’s wonderful to see her in Ponty.”
Adds her friend Anthea Hazard, “They are both so nice and natural with people.”
Princess Kate also heard of a familiar place from well-wisher Gwyneth Hutton. “I told her that I come from a village about four miles away from Bucklebury. She said, ‘Oh, how nice,’ ” Hutton tells PEOPLE of Princess Kate’s reaction to hearing about her hometown.
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Hutton, who is retired and now lives near Pontypridd, adds that it was “fabulous” for the Prince and Princess of Wales to visit the town.
“It’s wonderful that they took the time to visit us here. She’s looking so well – she must be feeling well if is happy to do this kind of thing,” Hutton says of Princess Kate, who shared in January that she is in “remission” from cancer after undergoing treatment last year.
“It was lovely to meet them both,” says the local.
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