The appearance follows a week of celebrations for the Cambridges. On Monday, William and Kate celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, Her Majesty appointed Kate Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Sovereign. It's Princess Charlotte's fourth birthday tomorrow, just nine days after Louis turned one.
Ahead of the visit, Kensington Palace said: "This visit marks the Duchess's continued desire to shine a spotlight on child mental health issues and the importance of early intervention, and working with the whole family, can make to those in vulnerable situations. Her Royal Highness is keen to draw attention to the ways in which this charity is making progress in their work to lead a step change in children's and young people's mental health care." They added: "The Duchess of Cambridge first visited Anna Freud Centre in 2015, before becoming patron in February 2016. Since then, Her Royal Highness has visited the Family School and the centre's Early Years Parenting Unit (EYPU) and has met many professionals and experts from the centre through her Early Years work with the Royal Foundation and the ‘Mentally Healthy Schools’ initiative, of which the centre is a key partner."
The Anna Freud Centre currently support over a million children across the UK as they strive to reduce the burden of mental health challenges children face. With over sixty years experience of caring for young minds, their vision is a world in which children and their families receive the support they need to achieve their goals and lead a happy, healthy life.
The Duchess met supporters.
More from the Mail Online:
'Kate spent more than 30 minutes chatting to donors, supporters, architects and staff from the charity. Speaking about the new building the duchess told one group: 'It must be so wonderful for you to see it.'
The Duchess enjoyed a laugh with Amy Herring.
Amy is one of Anna Freud's young champions who shares the experiences of young people with experts.
The Duchess posed for photos with presenter Kate Silverton and Amy who said: "To me, this new Centre represents an opportunity to further demonstrate our compassion and create change for young people with mental health problems and empower them to lead the change."
The new building, the Kantor Center of Excellence, represents the next chapter for the charity. It is the culmination of years of fundraising, meticulous planning and a vision to offer a creative, collaborative and inclusive space for young people and their families, experts and students. By combining all of the elements required to improve both understanding and practice in children’s mental health, in one coherent space, the centre can continue to pursue its ambition of transforming mental health provision.
At the heart of the Centre is Pears School, a school for children unable to meet the demands of mainstream education. A school for children who have been excluded. Pears School will support 5-14 year olds in a setting where loved ones can accompany them to classes. Tailored programmes will offer a combination of education with a focus on mental health.
People reports:
'The Anna Freud center, and its head Peter Fonagy, are at the forefront of Kate’s push to create a new framework for families and young people in the early years of their lives. She is looking at education, mental health services and support for families facing crises such as alcoholism and addiction.
Fonagy told PEOPLE earlier this year, “She’s extraordinarily serious about finding good solutions to the challenges of families with young children. She’s very keen on children and keen that they should be happy,” adds Fonagy, who has also worked alongside Kate with her mental health advocacy through the Heads Together initiative. “Part of her interest in prevention is to make sure that she does things right in her own parenting.”
The Duchess met with children and their families participating in a music class.
The group were very excited to meet Kate :)
During a speech to mark the opening, Kate told guests: "We are all here today because we care so much about transforming the mental health of children, young people and their families. I have learned so much about early childhood development and the importance of support for parents through your work here at the Anna Freud Centre. This is something I really do care about. The ambition for the new Kantor Centre of Excellence is hugely inspiring; bringing together research, education, practice and policy all in one place will take the Anna Freud Centre mission to the next level. It is testament to what can be achieved when people work together to realise a shared vision".
View the speech in the video below.
Kate unveiled a plaque to mark the opening.
The Duchess debuted a bespoke forest green Emilia Wickstead dress featuring a square neckline.
Apart from the neckline, the dress bears notable similarities to Kate's gorgeous lavender Wickstead dress. It proved so popular, it was crowned the most popular look of the Poland/Germany visit during a post-tour poll on the blog. The designer decided to release the piece and appropriately named it the 'Kate'. The Duchess wore it again last autumn for the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit.
Kate carried her £495 Mulberry Amberley clutch. Kate's colourway is sold out.
Kate accessorised with her Kiki McDonough Green Amethyst Diamond earrings.
And Candy Mini Green Amethyst and Diamond pendant.
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In other news, the Duchess had two private engagements yesterday. Kate returned to Sayers Croft Forest School for a visit. The Duchess first visited the school in October, the event marked the official end of her maternity leave. It's possible the engagement was linked to Kate's 'Back to Nature' garden which we'll see at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show later this month. Yesterday evening, Kate hosted a reception at Kensington Palace for her early years steering group.
An update on Kate's project from the Mail's education editor Eleanor Harding:
'Last year, the Duchess announced a new project to help mend ‘broken Britain’ through supporting families in difficulty.
She has made early-years intervention one of the cornerstones of her public work after seeing how so many problems faced by adults she had met – mental health issues, addiction and social exclusion – stem from their childhood.
The Duchess has set up a task force of experts to investigate the issue, with a view to announcing a series of findings and recommendations later this year.'
We should see photos to mark Charlotte's birthday tonight.
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