Kate Middleton's recent visit to a London museum has become the subject of a new viral video, after the royal was filmed chatting to a group of school students about her children.
Kate attended the opening of the refurbished Young V&A Museum in South London on June 28, in her capacity as patron of its parent institution, the Victoria & Albert Museum.
While touring the site, Britain's Princess of Wales was introduced to groups of children. Many of them engaged her in humorous snippets of conversation that were picked up by the news cameras following the event.
Uploaded to TikTok by user the.royal.watcher on June 29, a clip of the royal telling students, "I'm Charlotte's mommy," has been viewed over 1.6 million times in under 24 hours. It has received more than 77,000 likes and 300 comments.
Princess Charlotte, 8, is Kate's second child and only daughter with Prince William. She was born in 2015. The princess has become increasingly visible at royal events in recent months as she has attended a number of high-profile ceremonies. These included the funeral service for her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022, and the coronation of her grandfather, King Charles III, in May 2023.
Captured by news cameras at the Young V&A event, Kate referenced Charlotte and her two siblings, Prince George, 9, and Prince Louis, 5, when talking to the schoolchildren about their studies.
"She's going into Year Four [equivalent to third grade] next year," Kate said of her daughter, before being asked if she was "Charlotte's mommy?"
"I'm Charlotte's mommy!" Kate said, before adding: "And George is in Year Five [fourth grade] and Louis is in Reception [pre-kindergarten]."
Not seen in the TikTok clip, Kate then discussed her children's love of storytelling, saying: "They tell me stories all the time. Does anyone else have a story?"
Later at the same event, news cameras caught a humorous interaction between Kate and another student who asked how old she was. The princess crouched down and said in a whisper: "I'm 41. But don't tell anyone!"
Kate's visit to the Young V&A Museum paid tribute to her position as the institution's patron but also her professional interest in children's early years development, an area she has worked in for a number of years.
In 2021, the princess started The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which has commissioned nationwide studies and gathered expertise on the important developmental stages during a child's first five years.
In 2023, Kate launched her most ambitious working project to date, largescale awareness campaign titled "Shaping Us."
This campaign aimed to bring the importance of early years to a national platform. In an open letter launching the campaign, Kate wrote: "As a society, we currently spend much more of our time and energy on later life. I am absolutely determined that this long-term campaign is going to change that. It will start by highlighting how we develop during early childhood and why these years matter so much in terms of shaping who we become."
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.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
