Kate Middleton found herself in an environment that would likely feel very familiar to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis during the second day of her Italy visit.

The Princess of Wales, 44, spent the morning outdoors with preschoolers at Salvador Allende preschool in Reggio Emilia on Thursday, May 14, joining children for hands-on learning activities rooted in nature and play — the kind of adventurous, outdoor-focused environment she and Prince William have long encouraged for their own kids at home.

The outing is closely aligned with the princess’ long-running focus on early childhood development and the importance of children’s environments in shaping emotional well-being and learning.

Princess Kate has undertaken similar outings before, joining an outdoor lesson in England with William in 2023 and visiting a “Forest Kindergarten” during her 2022 visit to Denmark.

In photos taken during the outing on Thursday, Kate — wearing a blazer from Blazé Milano and a bracelet from Milan-based jewelry brand Atelier Molayem — could be seen laghing and

Kate has long been a proponent of children spending more time outdoors to promote their well-being. It’s also a role she takes seriously at home, where she gets her three kids outdoors, whether rain or shine. “Even a short amount of time — 10 to 15 minutes outside — makes a huge difference to both physical well-being but also to our mental well-being,” she said in a 2019 interview on CBBC’s Blue Peter.

The Princess of Wales’ solo trip to Italy marks her first work trip overseas since announcing her cancer diagnosis in 2024. She spent much of that year out of the public eye amid her treatment and recovery, and she returned to a fuller schedule of duties after announcing she was in remission in early 2025.

Princess Kate’s two-day visit to Reggio Emilia is seen as a fact-finding mission, and she will spend time digging into their internationally recognized approach to early childhood education. Seeing it as a “significant next step” for her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, Kate is spending time with educators, parents, children and civic and business leaders to see the work in action, according to her office at Kensington Palace.

“The Princess is very much looking forward to visiting Italy next week and seeing first-hand how the Reggio Emilia approach creates environments where nature and loving human relationships come together to support children’s development,” her spokesperson said in a statement ahead of the trip.

Her first day in Italy included a welcome from the mayor of Reggio Emilia in the town square, where hundreds of people lined up for a chance to catch a glimpse of the royal. Princess Kate was greeted with cheers of her name, signs and more — and she even spoke Italian with some of the children gathered.

The warm welcome was followed by a meeting with educators about their approach to early childhood development and a visit to Scuola Comunale d’infanzia Anna Frank, a preschool for children aged 3 to 6, to see the Reggio Emilia Approach in practice. There, she was bombarded with hugs and high fives from the young students.

Princess Kate launched The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021, bringing together research, collaboration and action to drive change in how society prioritizes the first years of a person’s life. The Shaping Us campaign, launched in January 2023, focuses on the vital impact of the first five years of life on adult development.

PEOPLE

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House on Monday for a state visit in Washington, a city still rattled by a weekend shooting and a transatlantic alliance showing fresh signs of strain.

British flags could be seen lining lamp-posts outside the White House, where Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, greeted Charles and Camilla with handshakes. The four appeared to exchange pleasantries and posed for several photographs before heading inside the White House for a private tea.

The president and first lady then took the royals on a tour of the newly expanded White House beehive on the south lawn.

Charles and Camilla then went to a garden party at the British embassy in Washington, joining Trump administration officials such as treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz as waiters served sandwiches that included Scottish smoked salmon and roasted British beef with horseradish.

An eager crowd gathered around the king as he moved slowly through the expansive gardens. The guests also included House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser, pollster and strategist Kellyanne Conway, Republican senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, Republican congressman Michael McCaul, and former Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin. The convivial atmosphere in warm sunshine gave no hint of a bilateral relationship in crisis.

The four-day tour, intended to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, begins against the backdrop of a diplomatic rift over Trump’s war in Iran and a dramatic security scare at last Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

A gunman opened fire inside the Washington Hilton hotel, prompting Secret Service agents to rush the president from the dais. Officials believe the president and members of his administration were the likely targets and the incident prompted an urgent review of security arrangements before the king’s arrival.

For Charles, the posture will be “keep calm and carry on”. Buckingham Palace said the visit would proceed after consultations with US authorities. A spokesperson said: “The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case.”

On Tuesday, the king will speak at a packed state dinner in the White House East Room and give a rare address to the US Congress.

The king is set to tell Congress that while the UK and US have not always agreed on everything, the nations’ shared traditions, including “democratic, legal and social traditions” mean that “time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together”.

The monarch’s remarks will be seen as a tacit acknowledgment of the recent transatlantic strains.

Charles is also expected to make brief reference to the weekend shooting and offer “the highest regard and friendship of the British people to the people of the United States” on the 250th anniversary of American independence.

It is only the second time a British monarch has addressed a joint meeting of Congress, the first being the Queen Elizabeth in 1991.

Charles will then travel to New York to visit the September 11 memorial, alongside the New York mayor and rising political star Zohran Mamdani, before concluding in Virginia, where he will meet conservation groups, reflecting a cause he has championed for more than half a century.

Some British politicians worry that the king’s soft power mission is fraught with opportunities for embarrassment, with Trump’s recent attacks on Pope Leo XIV intensifying the concerns.

Relations between the two allies have been bruised by Trump’s public criticism of Britain’s refusal to back military action against Iran. In recent weeks the president has derided the prime minister, Keir Starmer, as “no Winston Churchill”, while leaked Pentagon discussions about revisiting US support for British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands have deepened unease.

Yet Trump, who places an unusual emphasis on the diplomatic role of monarchs in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, has carefully separated his admiration for the king from his frustrations with the government. He has repeatedly described Charles as “a great man” and “a friend”, and suggested the royal couple’s presence could help steady relations between the two countries.

Christian Turner, the British ambassador to the US, told CBS’s Face the Nation programme on Sunday: “We had a small difference of opinion in 1776. We’ve been through that. We’ve come a very long way and that, in a way, for me, is what is so enduring about these relationships. It’s that we’ve had differences. Thatcher to Reagan, Roosevelt with Churchill, actually, over how to handle Stalin. These are moments in the relationship that actually it endured because it is so deep on security.”

However, the continuing scandal surrounding the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, have again surfaced ahead of the tour.

Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman, is convening Epstein survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and urging the king to meet them. He said: “The British people have actually been very strong on this Epstein matter, demanding accountability and justice – stronger than the American government in terms of taking action. So the king doesn’t have to get into any details of his brother’s case but it’s just standing with survivors and calling for accountability around the world.”

The British journalist Emily Maitlis said on the News Agents podcast she had been told that, until two weeks ago, Queen Camilla was “very keen” to meet victims of Epstein alongside Melania Trump. Maitlis added: “She said, ‘I’ve spent my life fighting for women’s voices, I’ve spent my life fighting for victims, we will find a way to do it.’”

But palace officials have made clear there will be no meetings with Epstein survivors during the trip, citing legal concerns over ongoing investigations in the US and Britain.

Charles has visited the US 19 times but this is his first state visit to the country since becoming king in 2022. His mother made four state visits to the country. The Guardian

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, couldn’t hide his balding hair when he visited Australia with Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. The pair touched down in Melbourne on April 14, which was their first visit to Australia since October 2018 — this time around, however, was not part of a royal visit, and the pair flew commercial on Qantas for a four-day visit with multiple photo-op stops. Shortly after landing, Harry and Meghan visited the Royal Children’s Hospital. Harry sported a dark suit and dress shirt, sans-tie, and he appeared in good spirits as he was photographed playing with children and their families. During one game, Harry playfully held onto a piece of paper as he leaned over to chat with one of the kids. Unfortunately for him, leaning over caused his receding hairline to be exposed. In fact, there was hardly any hairline to speak of, as the top of Harry’s head had been reduced to wisps of hair. Even the reddish sides of his hair looked to be thinning, but they were comparatively healthy and full compared to his scalp. It looked as if Harry would be doing himself a favor by pulling out the clippers and committing to a full shave up top.

The Sussexes also visited the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum, and Harry once again spent time playing with a group of kids. He wore a green top for that occasion and was given a coverall-apron to protect his clothes while doing crafts. Once again, Harry’s exceedingly balding head was unsafe from virtually every angle. Seeing his diminished follicles explains why there have been so many rumors about Harry getting a hair transplant.

Is it too late for Prince Harry to get implants?

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex’s bald head at the Invictus Games had people saying he should follow in William, Prince of Wales’ footsteps and shave it off. Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, were on hand at the Invictus Games in February 2025 in Vancouver, Canada. The couple was photographed taking in the games from a suite, as the former “Suits” actor cozied up and rested her head on her husband’s shoulder. Another pic showed Harry turning to plant a kiss on Meghan’s lips, and that was the most revealing photo — not because of the PDA, but because it showcased how bald the Duke of Sussex had become. The snaps were shared on X, where people urged Harry to look into hair implants. “[W]hy will he not go to turkey and handle his business? henry please,” one user pleaded. Others pointed out that his hairline had exceeded just receding. “Turkey can only do so much. At some point, you got to give it up,” another user replied. Some folks mentioned that Harry was always doomed to lose his locks. “That Windsor balding, catches all of them in the end,” a member of the Twitterati mused.

Perhaps picking up that his depleted hair had become a soft spot, Meghan tried to hide Harry’s baldness with a birthday photo post later that year. On Instagram, she uploaded a throwback pic while giving Harry a birthday shoutout in September 2025. The picture featured Harry in a fighter pilot suit with a serious case of helmet head, as his red locks were wild and raised. Meghan disabled the comments on her original post, but when it was re-shared on X, multiple users pointed out that she had strategically chosen a pic that obscured his present-day baldness.

Niki Swift