The Princess of Wales visits the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
(Picture: AP)The Princess of Wales shared skills and ideas with experts at the world famous Harvard university as part of her royal walkabout in Boston on Friday.
The caring Princess came armed with a black notepad full of handwritten ideas and questions.
Kate spent half an hour with experts from The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
Outside she went to both sides of the street to greet well-wishers and pose for selfies and receive flowers.
Allison Morgan, 37, spent $1,000 on flights and a hotel to travel from Williamsburg, Virginia, to see the couple.
She said: “She thanked us for coming out in the cold. It was worth every cent.
“I’m a huge fan of the royals. My mum was a fan of Diana and my grandmother a fan of the Queen. It is a family tradition.
“I have huge love for them and write and send cards.
“I do think Harry and Meghan could be more supportive to their brother and brother-in-law.
“They should be supporting Catherine and William when they are in Boston.”
Madeleine Arnold, 27, drove an hour with four-year-old daughter Harvest, to meet a “real-life Princess”.
Madeleine said: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for my daughter to see a Princess here in Boston.
“One day when Catherine is Queen she will be able to say she saw her. So we had to try.
“I’ve told Harvest all about the Revolution and about England and she is very excited to meet a real-life Princess.”
Kate’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has joined forces with the Harvard centre and she took part in a half an hour discussion to trade ideas and skills.
The Princess, wearing a houndstooth dress by Emilia Wickstead and earrings by Lenique Louis, told the experts it will “be the first of many”.
The Harvard Centre focuses on leveraging advances in science to inform policymakers.
They discussed how advances in science can be used to give every child a bright future.
Kate told them she had a lot to learn and wished to stay for longer - or even take a Harvard course.
During the meeting, Kate said: “There is so much amazing work going on and we need to start sharing the learning and science and what can be done better and be improved to help children in the trajectory into adult life.
She added: “It is frustrating because I’d like to be here for days.”
Kate told them: “My interest in early childhood started with the biggest societal challenges, homelessness and addiction, and the importance in how you build resilience with foundations and better mental health for people early on in life.”
Jack Shonkoff, Center Director, told their royal visitor: “We appreciate the work the foundation has been doing, it's a wonderful start. We want to share our science. We are at the frontiers of the science.”
He told her they wanted a global platform for the science studies for early years.
He compared their work to climate change science and described their work, saying they study “stress and adversity get into the body and effect very early in life”.
Kate, who spent around half an hour with the six experts, smiled and said: “I need all day”.
After arriving earlier to cheers, Kate signed a visitors book placed next to an old book signed by the then-Prince of Wales when he visited in 1986 - marking the 350th anniversary of Harvard.
She said to her guests: “It’s so exciting to be here. I’d love to come and study but don’t know what to choose, as there are so many specialist courses available.
“Apparently they say it’s never too late, there is always time.
“It’s great to be here. So grateful for this partnership. I’m looking forward to learning more.
“There is a lot for me to know.”
For the last nine years, The Duchess of Cambridge has spent time looking into how 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.
