Kate Middleton Shares Powerful Advice to Parents in Academic Study Foreword

Princess Kate Middleton has shared some powerful parenting advice about the use of smartphones in a new study released on Sunday, February 2.

The study was published by the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, which Middleton established in 2021 “to raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes.”

The study, titled “The Shaping Us Framework,” highlighted the importance of social and emotional development in young children and is based on information collected by academic, clinical and practitioner experts.

“Critically, babies and children learn to communicate not just by listening but through social interaction,” one section of the study viewed by Us Weekly reads.

It added that there was a “growing concern” about technoference, which the study defined as “technology-based interference, such as an adult looking at a smartphone during a conversation.”

It continued that technoference among parents or caregivers could reduce “critical” interactions with children and therefore negatively impact the development of a child’s communication skill development.

“As human beings, we are at our best when we are surrounded by love, safety, and security,” Middleton wrote in the foreword of the study. “We thrive when we are connected to one another, when we feel like we belong, feel seen, heard, and accepted for who we are.”

“This means taking a profound look at ourselves and our own behaviours, emotions and feelings,” she added.

Early childhood development has been an important cause for Middleton for several years. On Thursday, January 30, Kensington Palace announced that the royal had become patron of Tŷ Hafan, the first children’s hospice in Wales that Princess Diana supported before her death.

The study is released amid Middleton’s gradual return to public-facing duties after announcing in January that her cancer was in remission.

The royal opened up about completing chemotherapy treatment in September: “The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family.”

“Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown,” she said.

“This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life,” she continued, “which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.”

In an interview for Us Weekly’s latest cover story, Robert Hardman, author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, said Middleton’s children were the top priority during her treatment and recovery.

“Family was one of the reasons she didn’t announce her illness until relatively late in the day [March 22, 2024],” Hardman said. “It was the last day of school term, and they were keeping things normal for the children.”

“The priority was not her public image; the priority was her family.”