Kate Middleton sat down for her first-ever podcast on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum, Happy Baby, where she spoke candidly about motherhood, her own childhood, and the importance of early childhood development.
The unprecedented new interview details the Duchess of Cambridge’s life as a mom to Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Princess Louis, as well as how her “amazing” grandmother inspired her hands-on parenting style. Middleton also said that there are specific aspects and experiences from her own upbringing that she hopes to pass on to her own children.
“One is quality of relationships,” she shared. “So, those moments that you spend with people that are around you. I remember that from my own childhood.”
The royal continued, “I had an amazing Granny who devoted a lot of time to us, playing with us, doing arts and crafts and going to the greenhouse to do gardening, and cooking with us, and I try and incorporate a lot of the experiences that she gave us at the time into the experiences that I give my children now.”
“There are also the environments you spend time in as well: a happy home, a safe environment,” she continued. “As children, we spent a lot of time outside and it’s something I’m really passionate about. I think it’s so great for physical and mental wellbeing and laying [developmental] foundations. It’s such a great environment to spend time in, building those quality relationships without the distractions of ‘I’ve got to cook’ and ‘I’ve got to do this’. And actually, it’s so simple.”
Middleton secretly recorded the podcast, which went live on Saturday, February 15, following a nursery visit in Stockwell, London on January 29.
Last month, she also launched the “Five Big Questions” survey, which was created to generate conversation surrounding the importance and long-term impact of a child’s early development.
“It’s going to take a long time—I’m talking about a generational change—but hopefully this is the first small step: to start a conversation around the importance of Early Childhood development,” Middleton told Fletcher. ” It’s not just about happy, healthy children. This is for lifelong consequences and outcomes.”
You can listen to Kate Middleton’s podcast in full here.