Sawt Falasteen - UK's Catherine on first official foreign trip since cancer diagnosis

The Princess of Wales, whose husband Prince William is the heir to the British throne, was welcomed in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia.

She met the city's mayor Marco Massari as dozens of cheering onlookers waved British flags and held up signs reading "Ciao Kate" and "We love you, Kate!"

Early education is a subject close to her heart as a mother of three children -- George, 12, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight.

The 44-year-old's trip will focus on her work in early years child development, said a Kensington palace statement.

It will be "a high-level fact-finding mission to explore leading international approaches to supporting young children and those who care for them", the palace added.

Kate, as she is widely known, is looking forward to "seeing first-hand how the Reggio Emilia approach creates environments where nature and loving human relationships come together".

She announced in January 2025 that she was in remission from cancer, and has been gradually returning to public royal duties.

Her last official trip abroad was in December 2022 when she travelled to Boston in the United States with William for the awarding of environmental Earthshot prize.

She announced in March 2024 that she had been diganosed with cancer, without revealing which type and that she had begun chemotherapy.

- Early years -

In past years, Catherine has addressed themes of forging connections, the healing power of nature and acts of kindness, as well as her work with children and families.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy was developed by Italian educator Loris Malaguzzi after World War II, drawing on his years of experience working in early childhood education as well as psychology.

The project's roots can be traced to his experience helping a group of women establish a school in a war-torn village in 1945.

He later went on to work with children with learning difficulties, which shaped his education philosophy about prioritising individual differences.

"The idea is that children are competent from the very first months of life and we need to construct educational contexts that are able to bring out their potential," Nando Rinaldi, director of schools and nurseries for the Reggio Emilia municipality, told AFP.

A key tenet of the philosophy is "The 100 Languages of Children" –- the idea that children express themselves in myriad ways including movement, art and speech.

Kate set up the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2021, working to highlight the importance of a child's early years.

Through her work she has seen that "experiences in early childhood are often the root cause of today's hardest social challenges, such as addiction, family breakdown, poor mental health, suicide and homelessness," the foundation says.

"Malaguzzi's great intuition -- which was a bit of a revolution -- has finally been recognised today," said Rinaldi.

Kate's visit "is a great recognition for us. It is also a source of pride".

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST