Princess of Wales visits Kirkgate Market in Leeds to hear about childhood experiences
The Princess of Wales has been visiting Leeds and chatting with stall holders at Kirkgate market.
Her Royal Highness took a tour of the market before talking to vendors and members of the public about their experiences of early childhood.
Her visit clearly delighted market traders, with Turkish barber Marnso Mohammed saying: "I took a picture with her, I'm very happy, she's come to Leeds market we're all happy the sellers in Leeds market. I talked to her a little bit, just about the market, about life, that's it"
Nut shop tallholder Joanne Johnson said the experinece was "surreal, absolutely surreal, so beautiful, yes, she's so beautiful."
It comes as she launches the Shaping Us campaign which aims to highlight the importance of early childhood and how it shapes our lives as adults.
The Princess of Wales said “in these difficult times, it is more important than ever” to support the development of young children as she launched a new early years awareness campaign considered to be her “life’s work”.
Shaping Us, a long-term campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood which was founded by the Princess in 2021, aims to increase public understanding of the importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
The Princess has spent the last decade researching childhood development and believes it “fundamentally shapes our whole lives”.
A spokesperson for the Princess said: “I would say that she wants this to be her life’s work. When you think about legacy, she would want in ten years' time that we would see societal change and awareness when we come to the early years.”
The Centre for Early Childhood released new data today which shows one in three (36%) adults report knowing “little or nothing” about how children develop in their early childhood.
Amanda Berry, who leads the Royal Foundation, which is funding the project, said: "We've been raising awareness of the extraordinary impact of the early years and highlighting the need to increase societal understanding of the transformative impact of early childhood.