Pregnant Princess Kate visits with schoolchildren a day after celebrating 36th birthday
Kate, 36, also focused on programs supporting mental health and LGBT issues.
— -- Princess Kate, pregnant with her third child, was met by flowers and singing while visiting a school today in Feltham, a suburb of London.
Kate, who celebrated her 36th birthday Tuesday, wore a Seraphine dress over her baby bump as she joined some of the nursery school children in a painting activity.
The school Kate visited, Reach Academy, works in partnership with Place2Be, the mental health charity for which Kate has been royal patron since 2013.
Reach Academy is a college-preparatory school founded on the principles that all students, regardless of their backgrounds or means, can achieve great things and live productive lives.
Kate took a brief tour of the school before sitting down with students, parents and administrators to discuss emotional well-being and support programs, including those for young people struggling with their sexuality in the LGBT community. The decision to highlight programs that support resources for the LGBT community is another example of the young royals' modernizing the monarchy.
Kate's mother-in-law, the late Princess Diana, was the first member of the royal family to offer support to the gay community when she helped destigmatize the misconceptions surrounding AIDS and HIV in the gay community.
Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, have vowed to carry on her legacy through their work with the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
William, 35, has taken over the patronage of Centrepoint, a homeless charity supported by Diana. William is also today visiting Royal Marsden Hospital, a London hospital where he succeeded his mother as president.
Harry, 33, has carried on his mother’s work by founding Sentabale, a charity devoted to the vulnerable children of Lesotho and Botswana, many of whom struggle with HIV/AIDS. In December, Harry used his first official royal event with his fiancee, Meghan Markle, to introduce her to the work of the Terrence Higgins Trust, an HIV/AIDS charity with which Diana was closely associated.
Kate’s visit to Reach Academy today came after a milestone for her daughter, Princess Charlotte.
Kate took Charlotte, 2, on Monday to her first day of nursery school. Kensington Palace later shared new photographs of the toddler shot by Kate.