Footage of Kate Middleton being interrupted by an unexpected voice during a royal engagement in 2022 has been shared by fans after being posted on social media this week.
Kate has become the subject of increased social-media posting in the months since she became Princess of Wales, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. A number of fan-edited videos featuring the royal, as well as Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, have gone viral.
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The latest clip was uploaded to TikTok by @raffaellabartolo on Monday and has already received 1.3 million views. It was filmed during Kate’s visit to the Royal Surrey County Hospital’s maternity unit in England in October 2022.
During a group conversation with nurses and new mothers about the help and support on offer to them, Kate’s discussion was interrupted by one of the babies present. There followed a touching interaction between the royal and the little disruptor.
Responding to the baby’s coughing, Kate broke away from what she was saying to offer a smile caught on camera and ask: “Are you OK?”
The social-media clip has received more than 80,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the princess for her easy interactions with children.
“She’s always in mom mode,” wrote one user.
“Such a mom response,” posted another, with a further comment reading: “She is a real queen.”
Since becoming a member of the royal family, Kate has made children’s early years development the core of her public working output.
In 2021, the princess founded the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. As an arm of Kate and Prince William’s charitable foundation, it funds research into further understanding and promoting the importance of the first years of a person’s life.
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In 2022, Kate was announced as the new patron of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and in January 2023, the royal announced her biggest project to date, with the launch of the “Shaping Us” awareness campaign.
During a speech given at the launch event, Kate said: “By understanding our own childhoods, what has shaped our own beliefs, relationships, behaviors and feelings, we, as adults, are better placed to play our part in positively shaping future generations.
“Those involved in raising children today need the very best of information and support in helping to achieve this mission, and this campaign aims to help do that, too,” Kate added.
As well as medical early years support, Kate has also undertaken engagements that have explored the benefits of sport for parents and young people. In June, she made a visit to a rugby club in Berkshire, England, in her capacity as patron of England Rugby.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
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