Princess Kate quietly returns to royal duties after family break

The Princess of Wales quietly returned to her royal duties after spending the May school half-term with her children.

While Kate, 43, has not appeared publicly this week, the Princess held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, according to the Court Circular.

The mother-of-three launched the Centre for Early Childhood in 2021 after a decade of royal duties.

Two years on, Kate unveiled its first major campaign, Shaping Us, which aims to raise the profile of the crucial period of a child's development, from pregnancy to the age of five.

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She also rallied the Business Taskforce for Early Childhood with the Royal Foundation, including some of the UK's biggest companies – from Deloitte UK to Ikea - to inspire companies to invest in early childhood in order to create a happier and more productive workforce.

Last month, Kate was praised for the Case for Change report, which saw some of the businesses involved in the taskforce announce some major changes to their workplace policies.

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Deloitte UK has changed its parental policies to give all parents 26 weeks full pay, a move commended by campaign group, The Dad Shift.

Family time

It's not known where the Prince and Princess of Wales spent the school holidays, but typically they relocate to their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, from Windsor.

Prince George, who turns 12 in July, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, have now returned to their classrooms at Lambrook School in Berkshire for the final weeks of the academic year.

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Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales visited the Army Air Corps (AAC) for the first time in his role as the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief.

During his engagement, he pledged to raise the accommodation concerns of soldiers and handed out bacon and sausage rolls to their families.

© Kensington Palace

Prince William arrived at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk in a Wildcat Helicopter, a reconnaissance aircraft in the AAC’s fleet.

The prince is a former RAF helicopter search and rescue pilot who later spent two years flying air ambulances, and he flew himself back home after the visit to the ACC's headquarters to meet military personnel and their families.