On an important day for children in Britain, Kate Middleton kept her own kids close.
The Duchess of Cambridge marked a milestone a decade in the making on Friday, June 18: the launch of The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood. Having spent much of the last 10 years as a royal focused on mental health advocacy, the mother of three reflected on getting to this next step.
"My own journey into understanding the importance of early childhood actually started with adults and not with children. It was about prevention," she explained in a video shared online. "I wanted to understand what more we could do to help prevent some of today's toughest social challenges and what more we could to help with the rising rates of poor mental health."
After her many conversations with experts—from parents to neuroscientists—"what has become clear," she said, "is that the best investment for our future happiness is in the first five years of life."
Though Kate's children Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3, did not appear to be with her, she still found a way to keep them close to her heart thanks to a gold necklace engraved with their initials. The accessory—which she also wore in January 2020—is reportedly the Gold Diamond Midnight Moon Necklace by Daniella Draper, which retails online for roughly $1,451.
To see more of the duchess' style evolution over the years—from pre-royal family to mom of three—just keep scrolling!