18-05-2025
Kate Middleton Got LEGO and IKEA on Her Side — Inside Her Quiet Power Move for U.K. Families
Kate Middleton's mission to elevate early childhood as a national priority is making meaningful strides — with the business world increasingly on board.
Through a series of new initiatives, Princess Kate's Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood has inspired major companies — from IKEA to leading banks and supermarkets — to roll out programs designed to better support parents and help children thrive.
The momentum follows a landmark report released by the Princess of Wales last year, which outlined the urgent need to prioritize the early years. The report underscored that every child deserves a happy, healthy start in life — and that investing in early childhood isn't just the right thing to do, it's also smart economics.
By supporting caregivers and families, the paper argued, businesses can reduce absenteeism, boost employee retention, and support mental health and wellbeing across the workforce — all while helping to raise a more resilient future generation.
Since the report's release, each member of the Taskforce — which runs alongside Kate's broader Shaping Us campaign — has pledged to take action.
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Kate Middleton's early childhood campaign is gaining real traction — with major businesses across the U.K. stepping up in meaningful ways.
According to the Princess of Wales' office, LEGO has donated LEGO® Education Build Me 'Emotions' sets — designed to help children identify and understand their feelings — to early years providers throughout the U.K.
IKEA has partnered with local baby banks to provide essential items to families in need and launched a product line that raised funds for the Baby Bank Alliance.
NatWest bank expanded its lending capacity for early years care settings and created tools to help nurseries operate more sustainably.
Supermarket chain Iceland has trained 30,000 staff to better support young families and collaborated with online forum Mumsnet to launch a range of toddler meals — a project that raised funds for Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital and encourages healthy eating.
Meanwhile, local grocery store Co-Op, inspired by Kate's Shaping Us Framework, is now working to help parents and carers better understand and foster children's social and emotional development.
Much of this work continued behind the scenes during Kate's cancer treatment throughout 2024, though she remained closely informed — including on the release of last May's influential task force report.
On May 18, Sir Ron Kalifa, Chair of the Taskforce, praised the progress made: 'Businesses of every shape and size – from high-street shops to global enterprises – hold unique and powerful touchpoints: as employers, as providers of goods and services, and as pillars of the communities they proudly serve. These roles aren't just business functions – they're incredible platforms for meaningful action."
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He added, 'At The Royal Foundation, we are deeply proud that over the past year, members of our taskforce have shown such strong leadership and risen to this challenge. Their efforts have made a real, tangible difference in the lives of countless families with young children."
'And this is only the beginning of what's possible. The road ahead is bursting with potential," he said. "By continuing to work hand-in-hand, we have the chance to reimagine the role of business in society — not just as engines of economic activity, but as champions of childhood, wellbeing, and long-term societal health.'
Kate launched her Business Taskforce in March 2023 as part of her broader early years mission — and has recently begun a gradual return to public life after announcing in January that her cancer is in remission.
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On May 13, she stepped out in London to honor rising fashion talent at a design event, where winner Patrick McDowell, 29, told PEOPLE, "She was so interested to see the different crafts people were working on… She was genuinely interested to meet all of them and hear about what they do and how each of them contributes to the process of a fashion collection coming together."
Later this week, she's expected to join her husband, Prince William, in Scotland to christen a new state-of-the-art anti-submarine warship, HMS Glasgow.
Read the original article on People
