Kate Middleton Showed Off Her Clay Modeling Skills in Italy — and Nobody Saw That Coming
The Princess of Wales visited the renowned Loris Malaguzzi International Centre during her first day at Reggio Emilia.
Kate Middleton has gained popularity among people across borders thanks to the way that she interacts with people, but that's not her only skill. When she arrived in Reggio Emilia, Italy, for a two-day visit to explore the region's approach to early childhood education, a crowd of fans turned up to welcome her. This is her first official trip abroad since her cancer diagnosis in 2024, aimed at supporting her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and conducting a "fact-finding mission" on innovative child development techniques. After a heartfelt welcome at the Piazza Camillo Prampolini, she proceeded to visit the famed Loris Malaguzzi International Centre. There she stopped to explore a clay atelier workshop conducted by atelierista Marco Spaggiari. The Princess of Wales tried her hand at clay modelling and left Spaggiari stunned with her skills and humility.
“She stopped at the table and started working with clay,” he told T&C, before adding, “She said that she wanted to stay with us another hour because, yeah, she’s playing a lot. She’s learning a lot also from the play.” Spaggiari also expressed admiration for Kate's insightful and compassionate questioning regarding the educational environment, highlighting her ability to understand others' perspectives. As per Mirror, Kate also shared a joke while modeling the clumps of clay, in which she likened it to fashioning 'pasta' with bare hands. She noted that the activity sparked imagination and allowed children to “actually be able to stop and use your hands and pay attention."
The Princess of Wales also reminisced about the video used to promote the launch of her 'Shaping Us' campaign. “We used clay to tell the story of early childhood,” she said. Kate was left surprised when she learnt that the workshop team had seen it. She noted that children could learn about embedding connection and expression from clay modeling, which is interesting and beneficial for their lifelong creative pursuits. "Children can learn to draw on these throughout their lives," she added. Kate spent more than ninety minutes at the Reggio Emilia childcare method center, interacting with various educational experts and observing the various intellectually stimulating activities.
Norma Guinto, President of educational organization RedSOLARE Mexico, only had words of praise for the Princess of Wales after having a lovely encounter with her at the learning center. “I feel honored to meet her. It was so nice to see that she is real, you know," she said. The educationist expressed gratitude towards Kate's sincere interest and attentive listening abilities. She believes Kate's interpersonal skills can have a great effect on global education, especially for kids from different origins, which is important in the current historical context. Guinto concluded by saying that the Princess of Wales was keen on implementing the Reggio Emilia approach on a worldwide scale.
