Catherine, Princess of Wales meets children during the first day of her visit to Reggio Emilia. Photo / Getty Images
The Princess of Wales introduced herself to Italian schoolchildren as “Caterina” as she tried out her language skills on her first trip overseas since her cancer diagnosis.
The princess, who stepped out of her car to screams, whoops and shouts of “bellissima” and “Kate!”, launched into a walkabout, where people had been waiting up to five hours to see her.
Her two-day trip to the northern city of Reggio Emilia is part of her “global mission” to help the next generation of children.
She was heard telling the mayor of Reggio Emilia that the warm welcome had left her “emotional seeing everyone”.
Pausing to speak to children from local pre-schools, she crouched to their eye level to chat.
“Parlo un po’ d’italiano,” she said, letting them know she speaks only a little Italian, before asking their names.
“Come ti chiami? Io sono Caterina.”
Alice, 5, said afterwards: “She asked my name in Italian. She spoke Italian very well.”
Roberta Marzi, a teacher, said of the princess’ conversation with the children: “She asked them some simple questions but her Italian was perfect and she spoke clearly.”
The princess was handed flowers and cards, and several older ladies clutched her hand to their lips to kiss it.
She paused in the Piazza Camillo Prampolini before entering the town hall for an official welcome to the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, which is known for its child-rearing philosophy.
The Princess was told about the “Reggio Emilia approach”, in which the city works across generations to prioritise early childhood.
In the “Sala del Tricolore”, part of the town hall known as the birthplace of the modern Italian flag in 1797, the princess was presented with the “Primo Tricolore”, the city’s highest honour, in recognition of her work on early development.
The Primo Tricolore is awarded to individuals or organisations whose work has had a significant civic, cultural, scientific or democratic impact, often at an international level.
In the main chamber, the Sala del Tricolore was adorned with Italian flags and the princess posed for a photograph with Marco Massari, the mayor, and Salvatore Angieri, the prefect of Reggio Emilia, before a short ceremony in which the mayor read out her credentials in the early years sector.
After hearing the translated version, the princess put her hand on her heart and said: “Wow, what an honour. I’m very grateful, it’s very gratefully accepted.”
The mayor went on to explain the history of the chamber, speaking in simplified Italian as the princess recognised some words (“molto”...“historia”... “importante”) and exclaimed in English in response: “Oh really, I can imagine! So much history.”
She then spent half an hour with local “nonnas” – Carla Nironi, Iona Bartoli, and Eletta Bertani – who told her of their work to spread the Reggio Emilia method through the community. All three women were born around the start of World War II, and are considered instrumental in creating the programme that the princess was here to see.
They spoke in Italian with a translator sitting next to the princess, who nodded and smiled as the women spoke, and laughed when they were heard to say they “asked our husbands for help”.
“I love that you put children and childhood at the heart of the community, and I’m really fascinated to learn more about it,” said the princess.
At her second engagement, at the world-renowned Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, the princess met teachers working in the “Reggio Emilia approach” and joined a clay modelling workshop.
While walking through the centre’s “light atelier”, a room filled with hanging plastic waves and ornaments on the walls, the centre’s president, Maddalena Tedeschi, explained how it encourages children to interact and play.
“It’s encouraging children these days to slow down because their world is so fast-paced now,” said the princess. “It’s getting them to notice things, in their sensory environment as well.”
Shown a table covered with multicoloured plastic objects for children to play with, she said she had put on similar activities for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis at home.
“I did this in lockdown with the children,” she said. “We tried to find as many objects in the house as we could with as many colours in the rainbow as possible.”
Shaking hands with some of the other teachers, she laughed as they apologised for smearing her with clay. “Don’t worry! I have children, I’m used to it.”
The mayor’s office estimated that 3000 people turned out to see the princess.
At the third engagement of the day, the princess was swamped by toddlers wanting hugs and high-fives.
At the Scuola Comunale d’infanzia Anna Frank, for 3 to 6-year-olds, she was given a white rose as a gift and spoke of how the day had been “inspirational”.
After she left, many of the teachers started crying: the result, they said, of how much the royal visit meant to the small Italian city.
Inside the nursery, the princess was shown a play area with a wooden treehouse, clay artwork and decorative tree stumps.
“It’s so fascinating and even just seeing the environment, it feels different and so inclusive of the natural world,” she said.
Taking part in an art project, she added: “The world children are growing up in is so fast-paced and actually encouraging them to slow down and really engage in these creative activities.
“It’s so important to explore language in the way that you’re doing, creatively, in a really expressive way through storytelling. It really connects to them.”
She then spoke with some of the parents and listened to their experiences with the school.
“These are really special places and really special environments. If only more educational settings had this approach,” the princess said.
The visit is the start of a new “global mission” to seek out the world’s best child-rearing methods, in what has been described as a “huge moment” for the princess’ return to work after her cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Said to be “energised” by the visit, she returned to the country where she spent her gap year as part of her early years project, which aides called “an important step in her journey”.
A Palace aide said: “This is a huge moment for the princess.
“There will be many highlights of 2026, but this being her first international visit post her recovery ... This is a really significant moment for her.”
The Reggio Emilia approach is based on building environments that allow children to discover themselves through play, art, nature and their relationships with their caregivers.
The princess, who was said to have read about the method, was keen to see it in action.
On her way out of the town hall, the princess undertook a longer walkabout, swapping sides to speak to people who had travelled from nearby cities and set their alarm clocks for 5am to get the best spots at the front of the crowd.
Baby Elena, aged three months, was held over the barrier by her mother Marta, and beamed as the princess stopped to play with her.
People shouted variations of her name – “Kate!” “Katie!” “Catherine!” – and “I love you”, in an attempt to catch her attention as she made her way down the lines of people posing for selfies.
“Buongiorno,” she said, repeatedly. “Thank you so much.”
As the convoy car engines started, signalling that the first job of the trip was over-running and the princess had to move on, she stepped back to wave to the crowd.
The trip is the first in what will be a series of overseas visits to research how other countries and cultures raise their children. The princess hopes to incorporate the best practice into her work in the UK system through her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.
“She’s taking it up a gear,” said an aide. “This is a global mission. She wants to look at other models around the world and really create a global conversation.”
Referring to the Italy trip, they added: “She’s looking forward to being here, she’s energised, she’s enthused, she’s excited to see Reggio Emilia in action and meet the people here too.”
The princess made a similar visit in 2022, when she travelled to Denmark with her early years project.
In 2024, she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a course of chemotherapy. In January 2025, she announced she was in remission and had been steadily working her way back to a schedule of public engagements.
“[This visit] is an important step in the princess’ recovery journey,” said the aide. “She takes great joy from this work.
“I think it is only right that her first international trip since her illness is one that is focused on an issue that she is committed to championing for decades to come, and is a real issue that she wants to shine a spotlight on.”
Christian Guy, the director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said the centre’s research work “has all been driven by the Princess of Wales’ leadership over more than a decade, and her commitment to elevating early childhood as one of the most important issues facing society today”.
He said that the centre was entering “an important new phase”, with a focus on “early brain development and nurturing the whole child with the same urgency and sense of mission as other global challenges like climate change – if we truly want to get ahead of these challenges in the future”.
Explaining the inspiration for the trip, a spokesman for Kensington Palace said that investing in early childhood development was “not only a critical economic and social strategy, but also a primary, long-term defence against the 21st century’s toughest problems”.
“The root cause of many of today’s social issues often stem from a loss of connection,” he said. “Being here in Italy this week marks an important step in that global journey.”
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