Princess of Wales’ announcement hours before Royal Family appearance at Trooping the Colour

Catherine, the Princess of Wales has made an announcement just hours before she is set to join her husband Prince William, their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis as well as King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the annual Trooping the Colour.

The Princess’ Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has revealed it is set to fund a mental health pilot program called Happy Little Minds.

Announced amid Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, the program aims to better understand how mental health experts in early education settings can support babies and young children’s social and emotional development.

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It is a collaboration between children’s charities Barnardo’s and Place2Be and will see early education practitioners in two London nurseries receive bespoke training and ongoing consultation about social and emotional development from mental health practitioners.

Those practitioners are also set to provide guidance for parents and will work directly with some children and families.

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“Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales has long championed the importance of social and emotional development as critically important for enabling babies and young children to be mentally healthy, both in the short term and for the long-lasting impact on the rest of their lives,” the Centre wrote of Catherine announcing the pilot.

The program starts this month and will take place over 12 months in which time 150 babies, young children and their families are expected to benefit from the program, according to the Centre.

“Early education and childcare settings can play such an important and influential role in supporting children and their families at such a vital time, in all sorts of ways,” Executive Director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood Christian Guy said.

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“If settings are well-supported to promote social and emotional development in babies and young children, there is huge potential to positively impact all children and for early intervention and prevention of future mental health conditions in those most at risk, which could be truly transformational both for individuals and society.

This is the second pilot funded by Catherine’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. Back in 2023, the Centre funded the trial of an observation tool, known as the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB) which aims to help practitioners and families better understand the ways babies express their feelings.

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