Catherine, Princess of Wales, in a personal essay published on Friday, has lent her voice to growing public calls for children to be protected from constant digital intrusion.
Reflecting on her official visit to the Italian city of Reggio Emilia last month, Catherine’s essay urges society to help children build real connections and warns against the ubiquity of screens in their daily lives.
“In an increasingly digitalized world, where so much of life is mediated through screens, the need for genuine human connection has never been greater,” the princess wrote.
She added: “By spending time in nature or being creative, we can nurture the very skills and emotions that cannot be digitized: awareness, empathy, humility, and above all, love.”
The essay was published on the website of the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, the princess’ charity.
Britain’s royal family does not generally comment on politics or policy, in line with their ceremonial role. But the timing of Catherine’s essay, published just days after the British government announced plans to bar access to social media for children, appears notable.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced growing pressure to act on the issue as public opinion coalesced around the idea that more should be done to keep children safe online. One YouGov poll in December found that 74 percent of Britons surveyed supported a ban for those under 16.
In March, the government’s invitation for public comment on the matter drew more than 116,000 responses from parents, young people, industry groups and experts. The government said that 90 percent of parents who responded backed a minimum age of 16 for access to social media, and that 85 percent said the risks of social media outweighed the benefits.
But leading social media companies have criticized the ban, which is expected to come into force in early 2027, arguing that it would prevent teenagers from using platforms that offered benefits and community they might not find elsewhere.
Catherine’s essay does not specifically mention social media, but it emphasizes the value of nature and of loving interactions with parents and caregivers in teaching children how to “understand our place in the world, and ultimately find meaning in life.”
“Many of us yearn to reconnect with ourselves, with others, and the natural world,” Catherine wrote in her 1,100-word essay, adding that human connection “brings us back to our sense of self, to the present moment, to what is real and felt rather than abstract and distant.”
The princess, 44, who has three children with her husband, Prince William, has long made early childhood learning the focus of her philanthropic efforts, founding the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood in 2021.
Kensington Palace described her trip in May to Reggio Emilia, in northern Italy, as a chance for the princess to explore innovative approaches to nurturing young children. It was also her first official overseas engagement since her cancer diagnosis was revealed in 2024.
The Italian city’s educational approach took root after World War II, when local women used the proceeds from the sale of a tank, six horses and some trucks to build a preschool. Today, the so-called Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy that believes in the potential of young children, from infants to preschoolers, to be creative, learn and thrive in a nurturing environment that involves their families and communities.
In 2025, Catherine co-wrote an essay with Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry and the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, about the importance of connection in childhood. Leaning on a yearslong study that examined how to raise a flourishing child, the essay warned about the detrimental distraction of new technologies like social media.
“We’re raising a generation that may be more ‘connected’ than any in history,” they wrote, “while simultaneously being more isolated, more lonely.”
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