Princess of Wales greeted by thousands of noisy fans as she kicks off milestone trip
The Princess of Wales has been greeted by huge crowds as she arrived in Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy for her first overseas working visit in three-and-a-half years
The Princess of Wales has arrived in Italy
The Princess of Wales has been greeted by thousands of wellwishers as she arrived in Italy for her first official foreign visit in three and a half years – and charmed children by speaking to them in Italian.
Kate was welcomed by huge crowds as she travelled to Reggio Emilia, where she is carrying out a fact-finding mission and meeting educators across the town in northern Italy, which has been a world leader in the early years development of children up to the age of five.
She was also recognised for her efforts with the Primo Tricolore – Reggio Emilia’s highest honour – when she visted the cityโs town hall at the start of her first major overseas royal visit since having treatment for cancer.
Kate with three-month-old baby Elena(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Wellwishers held Union flags, some watched from balconies and others cheered when she stepped from her car into the city’s main square wearing a wearing a blue trouser suit and waved to the crowds.
She introduced herself to Italian schoolchildren as “Caterina”, as she tried out her language skills on her first trip overseas since her cancer diagnosis.
The Princess, who stepped out of her car to screams, whoops and shouts of “bellissima” and “kate!”, launched herself into a walkabout, where people had been waiting up to five hours to see her. She was heard to tell the Mayor of Reggio Emilia that the warm welcome had left her “emotional, seeing everyone”. “Aww, thank you,” she told him, putting her hand on her heart and looking around.
Pausing to speak to children from local pre-schools, she crouched down to get to their eye level to chat. “Parlo un poโ dโitaliano,” she said, gesturing that she speaks only a little Italian before asking their names. “Come ti chiami? Io sono Catarina.โ
Alice, aged five, said afterwards: โShe asked my name in Italian. She spoke Italian very well.โ Roberta Marzi, a teacher, said of the children, who were aged three to five: โShe asked them some simple questions but her Italian was perfect she spoke clearly.โ
She was handed bouquets of flowers of all sizes, and multiple single roses. Many people carried cards, letters or poems to hand to her, and several older ladies clutched her hand to their lips to kiss it.
Kate shakes hands on her arrival in Reggio Emilia (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
On the town hall steps, Kate again spoke to the mayor and turned to wave to the crowds who responded with cheers and waved back. Inside, the Princess said she was “very grateful” to receive the Primo Tricolore, the cityโs highest honour.
In the main chamber, the โSala del Tricoloreโ which was adorned with Italian flags, the Princess posed for a photograph with the mayor, Marco Massari, and Salvatore Angieri, Prefect of Reggio Emilia, before a short ceremony in which the mayor read out her credentials in the early years sector.
After hearing the translated version, the Princess put her hand on her heart and said: “Wow, what an honour. I’m very grateful, it’s very gratefully accepted.” The mayor went on to explain the history of the chamber, speaking in simplified Italian as the Princess recognised some words (“molto”…”historia”… “importante”) and exclaimed in English in response: “Oh really! I can imagine!… So much history…”
She then spent half an hour sitting down with local “nonnas” – Carla Nironi, Iona Bartoli, and Eletta Bertani – who told her of their work to spread the Reggio Emilia method through the community. All three women were born around the start of the Second World War, and are considered instrumental in creating the programme that the Princess is here to see.
They spoke in Italian with a softly-spoken translator sitting next to the Princess, who nodded and smiled as the women spoke and laughed when they were heard to say they “asked our husbands for help”. “I love that you put children and childhood at the heart of the community, and I’m really fascinated to learn more about it,” said the Princess.
Wellwishers try to shake hands and take pictures of the princess (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
When there was a brief pause in conversation, she added: “You obviously had to really fight for it. Why was it so important to you to invest in the community?” Afterwards, she was heard to tell the mayor that it “really shows the power of investing early, to avoid later difficulties down the line. “I’m really grateful for the warm welcome,” she added.
On her way out of the town hall, Kate undertook a longer walkabout, swapping sides to speak to people who had travelled from nearby cities and set their alarm clocks for 5am to get the best spots at the front of the crowd.
Baby Elena, aged three months, was held over the barrier by her mother Marta and beamed as the Princess stopped to play with her. People shouted variations of her name – “Kate!” “Katie!” “Catherine!” and “I love you” – in an attempt to catch her attention, as she made her way down the lines of people posing for selfies. “Buongiorno,” she said, repeatedly. “Thank you so much.”
The Princess stopped to talk to a small group of teachers, telling them of the Reggio Emilia method: “Thank you for what you do. It’s amazing here, isn’t it?”
Kate chats to a group of schoolchildren (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
When adults handed her cards and handmade pictures from their children, who were in school elsewhere, the Princess said: “Will you say hello to them for me?”
As the engines of the cars in the convoy started, signalling that the first job of the trip was overrunning and the Princess had to move on, she said “Oh I need to wave a general hello” and stepped back to wave. As the car door opened, she ran back towards two women who were holding flowers she had missed the first time.
One fan who got a glimpse of Kate was Maria Angelo Redaelli, who set her alarm for 3.15am to make the 125-mile trip from her home to Reggio Emilia. She said: “I just love the royal family and I just had to be here. And I am an English teacher so I want to tell my students about her. The princess said my hat was very glamorous and I gave her a rose. She is so beautiful.”
Marilena Prediere, 43, of Reggio Emilia also spoke to Kate. She said: “I said give a big hug to your children. I said you are beautiful and itโs a pleasure to meet you. Iโm from Reggio Emilia and this is a historic moment.”
While Michael Cocchi, 51, from Parma, who was wearing a Wales rugby top, handed Kate a bouquet as she shook hands with dozens of well-wishers. Mr Cocchi said: โI gave Kate some flowers, pink and white roses, because Iโve loved Great Britain since I was a child.
Kate speaks to children in Italian (Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
“I admire British culture, I admire British history and Iโm inspired by British literature. I think theyโre all family still has an important role in British culture.”
Ahead of her two day visit, Kensington Palace announced the princess was feeling “well and energised” about the trip and royal aides said the visit will herald a new beginning for Kate’s work in the field.
The future Queen wants to โlead the global conversationโ on the subject, and is aiming to bring together world leaders, educators and professionals. The Princess has also set her sights on further international travel ahead of her first trip abroad for three and a half years.
On her two day trip, she will visit a range of educational institutions around the region, recognised as being a world leader in early years education.
She will learn about the Reggio Emilia Approach, named after the city that pioneered the teaching method recognised across the globe, which stresses the importance of parents, educators and the environment โ โthe third teacherโ โ that surround a child.
Kate meets a group of nonnas in Reggio Emilia town hall (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aides described the princess as โenergised and enthusedโ, and was looking forward to the โmilestoneโ trip, her first since being diagnosed with cancer in February 2024. The Princess underwent six months of preventative chemotherapy before announcing she was in remission in 2025, but has staggered her return to full time royal duties.
The region, considered a world leader in the subject, invited Kate to learn more about the Reggio Emilia Approach, an educational philosophy which focuses on the idea that children have the potential for self-development.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: โ[This visit] is an important step in The Princessโ recovery journey. She takes great joy from this work. I think it is only right that her first international trip since her illness is one that is focused on an issue that is committed to championing for decades to come, and is a real issue that she wants to shine a spotlight on.โ
Christian Guy, Executive Director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said the milestone visit was a vital step in Kateโs future work. He said: โWe are now entering an important new phase of the Centreโs journey.
Kate is presented with the ‘Primo Tricolore’, the city’s highest honour(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
โBuilding on her UK and international work in this area for many years, The Princess is here with her Centre for Early Childhood to lead a new global conversation about this, believing we now need to focus on early brain development and nurturing the whole child with the same urgency and sense of mission as other global challenges like climate change – if we truly want to get ahead of these challenges in the future. This is about genuine prevention.
โWe will aim to build a global alliance and shape a blueprint for lifelong human wellbeing and connection around the world, by uniting people around the golden opportunity of early childhood.โ
